Navy joins in as Khulna jute mill blaze continues for hours

The Navy has been called in as the blaze at Salam Jute Mill in Khulna’s Rupsa has continued to burn the plant several hours after the fire erupted.

The fire units of the Navy were working with 16 fire service teams to bring the blaze under control on Wednesday night.

Locals called the Fire Service and Civil Defence when they saw flames in the mill around 5:30pm.

The workers evacuated the mill at that time.

Faruk Hossain Shikder, an assistant director of Khulna fire service, said four units from Rupsa and Tutpara fire stations rushed to the mill and tried to douse the fire.

As many as 12 more units from other nearby areas joined the efforts as the fire continued to spread. Later, the Navy was called in.

The origin of the fire could not be confirmed while no casualties were reported.

The mill’s Manager Bashir Ahmed said they believe an electrical short-circuit caused by a technical glitch in a machine started the fire at warehouse No. 3, from where the fire spread to two other warehouses.

Owner MA Salam claimed the three warehouses had 750 tonnes of jute products worth Tk 105 million and 1,300 tonnes of raw jute worth Tk 200 million.

With the machinery included, the cost of the damage was expected to be around Tk 1 billion, according to him.