200 shanties gutted in city fire
Staff Correspondent
About 200 shanties, including 15 shops, were gutted in a fire that engulfed the whole Jurain Balurmath Bholar slum in Shyampur in the city yesterday afternoon.Local and police sources said the fire originated from the shanty of Jahanara Begum at around 3:00pm while she was cooking. Soon the fire engulfed the whole slum and the shanties were reduced to ashes. The slum dwellers could only manage to come out of the shanties to save their lives but lost most of their belongings in the fire. A youth named Mohammad Kokhon sustained burn injuries who was rushed to a local hospital. Pushpa Rani, a vegetable vender, said she was selling vegetables when she saw her house in flames and rushed to rescue her 10-year-old child, Babu, who was sleeping inside the shanty. Although she was able to save her child, she could not save her belongings worth Tk 8000 that were all destroyed in the fire. Fire brigade sources said six fire fighting units rushed to the spot immediately and was able to douse the flame at around 3:45pm.
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