<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said the government will assist the Bangabazar businesspeople as much as possible after estimating the damages caused by Tuesday’s fire.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>“I’ve already assured that we will help them as much as we can. We’ll assess who incurred how much loss,” she said addressing an event at her official residence Ganabhaban.</div><div><br></div><div>The event was arranged to receive Tk 316.91 crore as first and second installments of the loan provided by the government for construction of Padma Bridge.</div><div><br></div><div>Road Transport and Bridge Minister Obaidul Quader handed over a cheque of Tk 316,90,97,049 to the Prime Minister as the first and second installments of the loan taken from Bangladesh Bank at a low interest rate under an agreement signed between the Finance Division and the Bangladesh Bridge Authority.</div><div><br></div><div>Terming the fire as a very tragic incident, Hasina said it is too much to bear the suffering and crying of so many businesspeople ahead of the Eid-ul Fitr.</div><div><br></div><div>She said the government undertook a project to construct a planned market there following the fire incidents in 1995 and 2018. But a good number of people obstructed it and filed a writ petition and then the High Court stayed the project.</div><div><br></div><div>“Hadn’t it (the project) been stayed at that time, we could have built a good market and then such a terrible accident would not have happened,” she said.</div><div><br></div><div>The premier, however, lambasted a number of unruly people who attacked nearby the headquarters of the fire service. Their behavior has angered her, she said.</div><div><br></div><div>The firefighters rushed to the spot soon after fire broke out to extinguish the blaze, reports UNB</div><div><br></div><div>The PM said she asked to identify the attackers and take proper action against them. “Proper action will be taken against them. Case will be filed against them,” she said.</div><div><br></div><div>She also said if anyone attacks the members or vehicles of the fire service or other public property in future, they won’t be spared.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>