Two workers were killed in a fire that broke out at a chips manufacturing factory in Dhaka’s Badda area early today.

The deceased were identified as Mostafa, 21, and Mahmudul Hasan, 23, both workers at the factory. 

Police recovered the charred bodies of the two workers from the factory around 4:15am and sent them to the morgue of Dhaka Medical College Hospital for autopsy, said Md Azharul Islam, inspector (operations) of Badda Police Station.

“Fire service personnel brought the blaze under control and later recovered the bodies from inside the factory,” he said, adding that the fire was apparently caused by an electrical short circuit.

The fire broke out around 2:00am at Maria Abdullah Food, a chips manufacturing factory on Koborsthan Road in Purbo Badda, according to police and factory workers.

Rakibul Islam, a worker at the factory, said around 10 workers were inside the tin-shed two-storey building at the time of the incident.

“We had dinner around 10:00pm and went to sleep on the second floor. Around 2:00am, we woke up after feeling heat and seeing smoke,” he said.

“Hearing screams from downstairs, everyone rushed out, but Mostafa and Mahmudul could not escape. After the fire was extinguished, their bodies were found on the second floor,” he added.

According to co-workers, both victims were from Taraganj Upazila.