1 killed, 1,000 shanties gutted in city
A fire blazes at a slum in the city's Moghbazar Wireless Gate area yesterday destroying about one thousand shanties. Photo: Courtesy
A fire left one person dead and around 5,000 homeless after it tore through a slum at Moghbazar Wireless Gate in the capital early yesterday.
One thousand shanty homes were destroyed by the blaze that began around 4:45am.
Slum dweller Aleya Begum, 32, died as she was trying to rescue her children and possessions.
An unidentified woman was killed after being hit by an express train as she took shelter on the railway line beside the slum.
Sakhina Begum, 40, who had been asleep in her house alone, said, "I woke up hearing cries around me and I saw the fire burning the shanties. I couldn't save anything but my own life." Sakhina has lived in the slum with her family for the last 12 years.
Many others are injured and destitute, including children, women and older persons.
A spokesperson from the Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD) said that 16 units were sent to contain the fire, which took an hour and a half to contain.
The FSCD believe it may have been caused by a cooking burner.
Billal Hossain, one of the house owners, alleges that criminals may have torched the slum as part of an attempt to grab government land.
Billal said that over a thousand homes built on bamboo stilts collapsed soon after they caught on fire.
Leaders from various parties inspected the area today.
Meanwhile, a fire broke out last night on the third floor of Motaleb Tower at Poribagh in the city.
Fire Brigade sources said the fire broke out around 1:00am inside an office that sells medical equipment.
The extent of damage could not be ascertained immediately.
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