In Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, more than 10,000 people have been left homeless after a breakout of a vast fire destroying thousands of huts. The fire broke out at the Chalantika slum in Dhaka’s Mirpur district on the northern outskirts of the city. Video footage showed the huts burning, with smoke rising in the air.
The director of the Fire Service, Zillur Rahman, has said that the fire started on an evening at 7:14 p.m. and was put out by 11:35 p.m. on the same day. There were no casualties as a result of the fire, but four people were injured and rushed to a local hospital.
“I could not save a single thing. I don’t know what I will do,” stated Abdul Hamid, who worked in the slum. Most of the slum’s residents are low paid workers, as they work in a garments factory. Some of them were not even at home at the time of the fire, as they were celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.”
“Else, the damage would have been bigger,” Golam Rabbani, a local police chief, said. Rabbani has stated that more than 2,000 huts were destroyed in the fire, leaving more than 10,000 people homeless. The State Minister for disaster management has reported that 80% of the slum has totally or partly been destroyed.
Rahman stated that the government would provide 500 tons of rice and 1.3 million takas to every person who has been affected by the fire. The Mayor of the Dhaka North City, Atiqul Islam, has said the victims would continue to receive help from the authorities. “All important needs for the homeless people would continue until needed,” he said at a press briefing.
Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, claims that permanent setups are created at Baunia embankment for slum people. This blaze is one of many to strike the densely populated Bangladeshi capital, with at least 100 people dying this year alone.
