Khulna's Dada Match Factory catches fire
A fire broke out at Khulna's Dada Match Factory, a once well-known manufacturing plant of the country's southwestern region built in 1955, on Monday (6 March).
The blaze started around 7:30pm at the closed down factory located in Khulna's Rupsa upazila.
"Four units of the fire service rushed to the spot from different stations and brought the blaze under control after about an hour," Tanharul Islam, deputy assistant director of Fire Service and Civil Defence told The Business Standard.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
"The fire service found sulphur in the factory's storage unit which was ignited and caused the smoke to spread across the area," he explained.
The cause of fire, however, or the extent of the damage can be determines after the investigation, he added.
One of the oldest factories in the country, Dada Match started its journey on 18 acres of land in 1955 on the bank of Rupsa River. In 1993, the factory was leased out to Bhaiya Group.
On 1 February, 2010, Bhaiya Group announced halting the production at the factory and on 18 August, terminated all employees.
Since then, the workers urged Bangladesh Chemical Industry Corporation (BCIC) to take the mill under control and ensure arrears to the workers. In such a situation, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced the opening of the factory at a public event in Khalishpur in 2011.
On 23 March of that year, Khulna Deputy Commissioner took over all property of the factory on the instructions of the Ministry of Industry.
