Three people were killed in a fire that broke out at the six-storey Mohammadia Plaza in the port city's Riaz Uddin Bazar area early yesterday.

Mobile phone repair and accessory shops occupied the first three floors of the building, while its employees and other bachelors lived on the floors above.

The deceased were identified as Md Ridwan, 45, Md Shahed, 18, and Ismail Hossain, 19, of Satkania upazila, said police.

Kotwali Police Station Sub Inspector Toma Akter said Ridwan and Shahed worked at shops in the market and lived on the floors above; while Ismail was Shahed's friend, who was staying the night in his room.

The victims died due to asphyxiation, said a physician of Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

A 35-year-old woman and a nine-year-old girl, who lived in the residential building next to the market, fell sick after inhaling smoke from the fire and were admitted to CMCH's burn and plastic surgery unit.

Later, the woman was shifted to the intensive care unit (ICU) as her health condition deteriorated, said Rafique Uddin Ahmed, head of the burn unit.

"The two injured suffered inhalation injuries."

The fire originated from a shop on the ground floor around 1:35am due to an electric short circuit, said Abdur Razzaq, deputy assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence in Chattogram.

"Eight fire engines rushed to the spot and doused the blaze around 5:30am."

Razzaq also said the fire gutted five shops and caused a loss worth Tk 30 lakh.

Since the market remained closed on Fridays, most employees and owners closed up shops on Thursday night and headed back to their village homes, with some staying back.

Minhazur Rahman, a resident on the fourth floor, first smelled smoke and alerted others of the fire around 1:40am. Thick smoke blocked the stairs, so around 20 residents went to the roof and escaped to an adjacent building.

Sajjad Miah, owner of Ajwad Telecom of the market, also a resident on the fourth floor, said he had gone to his village home at Satkania on Thursday night.

The deceased Shahed was a staffer of his shop and also his roommate.

"Shahid's friend Ismail was staying the night with him as I was not there."

Sajjad said Shahed had called him after the fire broke out.

"Shahed told me a fire caught on the ground floor of the market. I told him to go to the roof, but he said he could not see anything due to thick smoke.

"I was on the phone with him for around 20 minutes before the call got disconnected."