At least five workers were charred to death in a massive fire that broke out at a shoe factory in Swarighat in Dhaka's Chawkbazar area in the wee hours of Friday. The identities of the deceased could not be known immediately. Officials told UNB that the fire broke out around 1.15am at Rumana Rubber Industries adjacent to a kitchen market and spread soon. On information, eight fire tenders rushed to the spot but it took them nearly an hour and a half to contain the blaze and another two hours to douse it, said Rashed Bin Khaled of Fire Service and Civil Defense control room.  After the fire was doused, the firefighters launched a search operation and recovered the five charred bodies from the first floor of the factory building. READ: BICC building at Motijheel catches fire The victims, all factory workers, were fast asleep when the fire broke out, Rashed said, adding that the bodies have been sent to Mitford Hospital morgue. READ: Furniture factory in Dhaka catches fire A probe has been ordered to ascertain the exact cause of the fire, he said.

A fire broke out at a footwear factory at Temgra Bazar in Sreepur upazila of Gazipur on Monday.