Report - Fire Gutted a Slum in the City

Fire Gutted a Slum in the City

Hasan Mahmud, Dhaka, 10 September: A fire gutted the city's Bank Colony yesterday killing at least two people and injuring several others. More than two hundred people would live in the slum of the City Bank colony.

The exact cause of the blaze remained clouded in mystery, but it became clear that the fire originated at about 4.30 pm from a kerosene stove and rapidly spread to the adjacent slums. Fire seriously injured four persons. Among them a girl named Ruma died later on the way to hospital.

The other injured were admitted to the nearby hospital. The victims have lost all their valuable things and all their savings. At present they are living under the open sky and in a miserable condition. The miseries of them know no bounds.

The fire brigade reached the spot an hour late but they were unable to control the fire quickly as the passage was very narrow. At last, they managed to control the fire after two hours with the help of the local.

The slum-dwellers are basically rootless people and they have no other shelter to live. Most of the families living here are under the line of poverty, and there are around 200 families who are now living under the open sky.

They are badly in need of help from both government and nongovernment parts to rehabilitate them. If government can assure help to these affected people as soon as possible, they can make over their loss and start a new struggle of life.