SAVAR: A devastating fire in a printing and packaging factory at Mantakai in Kuturia area of Ashulia here early Friday damaged its huge valuables worth around Tk 3 crore and left seven firefighters injured.

Panic gripped locals having a sound sleep when a sudden explosion rocked the area at around 2:30 am and erupted into fire.  

On information, five units of firefighters from Dhaka EPZ, Savar, Dhamrai, Dhaka Head Office and Mirpur rushed to the spot and they took around four hours to put out the blaze.

In the meantime, seven firefighters were injured during the hectic operation, said Dhaka EPZ senior station manager, Aktaruzzaman.

He said, "It could not be ascertained immediately how the fire broke out."

Factory owners said that the blaze burnt the storeroom of raw materials and various chemicals, leaving huge damages worth about Tk 3 crore.

Ashulia thana SI Shahin Sah Parvej suspected that the fire erupted from an electric short-circuit and raged through the factory.

A general diary was filed with Ashulia thana in connection with the factory-fire incident.

BDST: 1000 HRS, SEP 10, 2010