Shoe factory near Nimtoli gutted

Only a day after the fifth anniversary of Nimtoli fire tragedy, a shoe factory was gutted yesterday afternoon at the capital's Sikkatuli, less than a kilometer away.

Nazim Uddin, 52, a worker, sustained 10 percent burns.

Flammable chemicals in the 750 square feet factory caught fire from an electric short circuit, said witnesses.

Nine fire fighting units took about one-and-a-half hours to douse the blaze. Law enforcers and fire fighters could not find the factory owner Nasir Uddin after the incident.

On June 3, 2010, a devastating fire broke out in a chemical storehouse in the area killing 124 people.