Fire guts 140 shanties in capital

The charred remains after a fire at Notun Bazar slum at Kalyanpur in the capital yesterday. Inset, a resident of a shanty in the slum in tears after seeing all her belonging gutted. Photo: Sk Enamul Haq

Around 140 shanties and 10 shops were gutted in a fire at a slum in the capital's Kalyanpur area yesterday.
Zahirul Amin, deputy director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, said the blaze broke out at Notun Bazar slum around 11:30am.
Ten firefighting units from Mohammadpur and Mirpur fire service stations extinguished the blaze after an hour long effort, he said.
The firefighters, however, could not ascertain the reason behind the fire.
But, locals said the fire might have been originated from an electric short circuit.
Sayema Begum, a resident of the slum, said the fire originated from a shanty near her house.
She lost valuables worth around one lakh taka in the fire, she claimed.
As the fire broke out, the slum's residents including women and children managed to come out of their houses, but could not save their belongings, she added.
Most of the people living in the slum are from the lower income group, and work at different garment factories.