16 houses gutted

At least 16 houses were gutted in a fire at a workers' colony at Dendabar near Palli Bidyut area in Ashulia early yesterday. Fire service sources said the fire originated from an electric short circuit at a house at Azhar Molla Workers' Colony around 2:00am and soon engulfed the adjoining houses. On information, three firefighting units from DEPZ rushed in and doused the flame after one hour of frantic efforts. Abdul Hamid, in-charge of DEPZ fire service station, said a house inmate was slightly injured in the fire incident and received first aid. The affected house owner claimed that the loss caused by the fire could go up to Tk one crore.