Shanty Town In Chittagong Catches Fire, Burns Down 200 Homes

A fire has burnt down nearly 200 homes at the Tekpara and Yakub Nagar slums at Loitar Ghat shanty town at Firingi Bazar Fishery Ghat in Chittagong city. At this time several tin-shed houses have been gutted in a fire.The incident took place at around 1:20pm on Monday. On information, nine units of fire service from four stations rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control after an hour's effort. But the cause of the fire could not be known immediately.

The fire started at 1:20pm, said Abdur Razzak, Fire Service deputy assistant director for the Chattogram Region. It was brought under control around 2:15pm. Efforts are now underway to extinguish the flames.

“Firefighters from the Nandankanan, Lamarbazar, Chandanpura, and Agrabad fire stations are working to extinguish the fire,” Razzak said. “Nine units from the four stations were able to bring the blaze under control. Now they are attempting to extinguish it.”

The Fire Service and local representatives have yet to confirm the cause of the fire. A trail of black smoke rising from the slum next to Mariner’s Road in Firingee Bazar could be seen from quite a distance.

Councillor Murad said, “I have spoken with the honourable mayor, the deputy commissioner and the Awami League general secretary of the Chattogram Metropolitan unit. They asked us to compile a list of the people who suffered damages. Food will be arranged for those families who were affected. Their compensation will be looked into.”

Yet not received the full list, but assuming nearly 200 homes have been burnt, said Councillor Murad.

The Tekpara slum is next to the Mariam Bibi canal near the Karnaphuli River. Most of the tin houses in the slum have burnt down. Locals say the slum homes use gas cylinders, but the locals were able to remove them from the area when the fire started.

No casualties have been reported from the fire as of 2:45pm. Locals believe the fire may have started from an electrical short circuit.