Fire at Faridpur jute mills damages goods worth Tk 4 crore

A massive fire broke out at a jute mill beside Dhaka-Khulna highway in Madhukhali upazila of Faridpur today.

The fire started around 2:00pm at Mazeda Jute Mills in a room where threads from jute fibre are produced, said Titok Shikder, station manager of Madhukhali Fire Service and Civil Defence station.

On information, five units of firefighters from Faridpur Sadar, Madhukhali, Boalmari and Saltha went to the spot and doused the blaze after five hours. Bales of threads from jute fibres were gutted in the blaze, the official told our Faridpur correspondent.

The cause of fire and the extent of damage could not be estimated immediately, the fire service official added. The mill authorities, however, said the blaze caused damages worth around Tk 4 crore.

Talking to The Daily Star, Madhab Kumar Sarker, manager (Administration) of the jute mill, said the fire may have originated from friction in the machines in the thread-making room.  

"Recently we had an order of 100 tonnes of threads from jute fibre. The bales of the thread were kept in that room for completing work and were gutted in the fire, causing damages worth nearly Tk 4 crore," he said.