Still ablaze, Chattogram EPZ factory fire spreads from top floor to ground after nine hours

The blaze started on the seventh floor of an eight-storey building

A devastating fire that broke out in a factory building at the Chattogram Export Processing Zone has been burning for more than nine hours, spreading from the top floors down to the ground.

Authorities have confirmed there have been no reports of casualties so far.

As many as 19 units from the Fire Service and the Navy are battling the blaze, said Mohammad Jasim Uddin, deputy director of the Fire Service’s Chattogram region.

By 9pm, witnesses saw parts of the ceiling on the upper floors melt and collapse.

The fire has since engulfed all eight floors of the structure. Around 9:45pm, cracks appeared on the building, bdnews24.com’s reporter Mintu Chowdhury reported from the scene.

The fire started around 2pm Thursday at Adams Cap and Textile Ltd, located on Road 5 of Sector 1 inside CEPZ, said EPZ Police Station chief Mohammad Jamir Hossain Zia. The building also houses Jihong Medical Company, which makes surgical gowns and medical supplies.

According to the Fire Service, the top floor was empty, while the seventh floor contained warehouses for both companies. The fire reportedly began there before spreading downward.

“The floor contained flammable materials, which is why the fire remains out of control,” said Jasim Uddin. “We are doing our best to contain it.”

Workers managed to escape unharmed, as the blaze started during the lunch break, he added. Factory authorities confirmed that no workers were inside the building when the fire broke out.

Earlier in the afternoon, CEPZ Executive Director Abdus Sobhan told bdnews24.com that the Navy’s firefighting unit had joined the operation, alongside the Fire Service teams already on site. A military patrol team also arrived later to assist.

Police said the fire initially broke out on the seventh floor of the medical equipment manufacturing section and soon spread to the sixth floor. 15 firefighting units were deployed within minutes.

Abdullah Al Mahmud, special police superintendent of the Industrial Police in Chattogram, said around 800 workers were employed at the factory, all of whom were safely evacuated.

Witnesses said firefighting efforts were delayed due to traffic congestion around CEPZ earlier in the day, following clashes among workers from Pacific Group factories.

A worker from a nearby factory, Nurul Absar, said: “The fire started in one corner of the seventh floor and spread quickly.”

Despite the intense flames, nearby factories -- including Al Hamidi, Dress and Bag, and the closed Peninsula facility -- remained unharmed.

Late at night, a Fire Service officer on site said: “We’ve been trying everything since we arrived, but the way the fire spread made it impossible to control so far.”