Sundarbans fire in Bangladesh brought under control

The major fire raging for the past two days in the Sundarbans in Bangladesh was controlled Friday evening by fire fighters and forest workers, an official said.

Md Ariful Haq, fire service station officer in Morrelganj, Bagerhat district, said the fire was doused by spraying water from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m, bdnews24.com reported.

He said no blaze was seen anywhere since evening.

Authorities said the fire broke out Wednesday afternoon in Chandpai range area in Sundarbans' east zone.

Forest department officials tried to douse the fire by spraying water from nearby canals, but failed to do so and the blaze engulfed a vast tract of the forest by Thursday morning.

Later, a firefighting unit joined the efforts and tried to extinguish the blaze creating "line of fire".

A three-member committee has been constituted by the forest department to ascertain the reasons behind the fire in the world's largest mangrove forest.

Chandpai Assistant Conservator of Forest Abul Kalam will head the committee, along with forest station officers from Jiudhora and Dhangmari.

The committee, which will also determine forest resources lost to the fire, has been asked to submit its report in three working days.