Rangamati Fire: 73 houses gutted
A deadly fire burnt down some 73 houses in Mosjid Colony area of Rangamati town yesterday, with no injuries reported.
The fire broke out around 8:30am presumably from a short circuit, said Didarul Alom, deputy director of Fire Service and Civil Defense in Rangamati.
“All the houses were attached to each other in a circular shape and built with bamboos with tins on the roofs, which made the fire grow in no time,” he said, adding that the total amount of loss could be worth up to Tk 90 lakh.
Members of the fire service, army and police managed to douse the fire after three hours of relentless effort.
Most of the 73 affected families, who were tenants of those houses and lived a subsistent lifestyle, lost all their valuables in the fire.
“The fire left us with nothing,” said Muhammad Jahangir, one of the victims, while talking to The Daily Star.
“I went to work early in the morning and was informed about the fire after an hour. Upon return I found everything burnt to ashes,” he deplored.
Another victim Monoara Begum said she could not save anything from the fire except for the clothes she was wearing.
She also urged the government to stand beside them during such a crisis.
The affected families took shelter in the nearby houses of their relatives for the time being.
Mamunur Rashid, deputy commissioner of Rangamati, said, “We distributed relief materials among the affected families.”
“Each family received Tk 2,000, some dry food and a blanket,” he added.
However, the government official answered in the negative when asked if the government had any long-term plan for the victims.
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