Fire burns down BTC's floating restaurant Mary Anderson

A blaze raging for two hours has burned down Bangladesh Tourism Corporation's (BTC) floating restaurant Mary Anderson.

Narayanganj Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 15 Oct 2014, 09:05 PM
Updated : 15 Oct 2014, 09:21 PM

The luxury yacht-turned-restaurant was anchored on the Buriganga River at Pagla in Narayanganj's Fatulla when it caught fire around 11pm on Wednesday night.

Fire-fighting units from Mondolparha, Hajiganj and Postogola stations put out the flames around 1am Thursday, said Narayagnganj Fire Service and Civil Defence Deputy Assistant Director Mamtaj Uddin.

An electric short-circuit was suspected to have started the fire, but that could not be immediately confirmed, he added.

However, there were no casualties, Fatulla Model Police Station OC Md Asaduzzaman said before adding that the restaurant was completely gutted.
The staff of the restaurant and bar had managed to disembark in time after failing to douse the flames on their own, Manager Md Salauddin told bdnews24.com.
There were no customers on board at the time.
Witnesses said the fire originated from the bar on the yacht's lower deck. Then it spread across the vessel in moments completely destroying everything on it.
Salauddin also said a short circuit could have started the fire.
Asked about the extent of the damage, BTC official Nazrul Islam said, "Mary Anderson was a 150-year old heritage. The amount of loss cannot be assessed in terms of money."