At least 20 shops were gutted in a fire at Kongso Nagar Bazar in Burichang upazila of Comilla on Friday afternoon.

Farid Ahmed, deputy assistant director of Comilla Fire Service, said the fire broke out at a hotel of the bazaar around 4:30pm following the explosion of a gas cylinder and it engulfed the adjoining establishments.

On information, four firefighting units rushed in and brought the fire under control around 5:20pm, reports UNB.

The affected businessmen claimed that the extent of losses caused by the fire would exceed Tk 1 crore.