Habiganj, April 22 -- At least nine shops were gutted in a fire that broke out at Bithangal Akhra Bazar in Baniachong upazila of Habiganj early Wednesday.

The fire which broke out around 2:00 am at a restaurant owned by Sanjit Roy spread rapidly to adjacent shops after a gas cylinder inside the establishment exploded, according to Fire Service and local sources.

Station Leader of Baniachong Fire Service, Riaz Uddin said although they received information at night poor road conditions delayed their response.

Three grocery stores, an electronics shop and several other establishments were completely gutted, bringing the total number of affected shops to nine.

The intensity of the blaze left no time to salvage goods, said shop owners.

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