Two houses were gutted and one house was damaged in a fire in Betagi, Barguna. Three families have been left destitute. The fire broke out at 12:30 pm on Wednesday.
Eyewitnesses said that Joynal Khan's house in Dakshin Betagi village of Sadar Union of the upazila suddenly caught fire and within moments the fire spread to the neighboring Hashem Khan's house. In this, the tin houses of Joynal Khan and Hashem Khan were burnt to the ground and the neighboring house of Montu Khan was also damaged. The affected family reported a loss of about 10 lakh taka, including cash, in the fire. Abdul Latif Hawlader, Station Master of Betagi Fire Service Station, said that the fire started from an electrical short circuit.
Immediately after the incident, Upazila Executive Officer (Acting) Bipul Sikder visited the scene. During this time, he provided 5 thousand taka and food items to each affected family. At that time, Betagi Police Station Police Inspector Md. Faruk Hossain, UP member Md. Tajul Islam and journalist Riazul Kabir Babu were present.
UNO (Acting) Bipul Sikder said, "As soon as we received the news of the fire, we inspected the scene. The fire was brought under control with the efforts of the fire service and locals. The upazila administration has provided financial and food items to the victims."
