Slums in Bangladesh’s capital were hit by a massive fire, reported at first as leaving around 50,000 people homeless. This was later downgraded to 10,000.
The fire occurred last Friday (16th Aug) in the Dhaka’s Mirpur neighbourhood and destroyed 15,000 homes. No deaths have been reported, although several people were injured.
It said many of the estimated 50,000 people who lived in the slum were low-wage earners, who were away from their homes because of a Muslim religious festival.
Many of the destroyed homes reportedly had plastic roofs, which helped the flames to spread.
Firefighters took more than six hours to put out the flames and the Bangladesh Government said it would provide relief for those without shelter.
This could not have happened at a worse time with monsoon rains expected at any time.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
Earlier this year, a fire in the Chawkbazar area of Dhaka tore through a 400-year-old neighbourhood, killing 81 people.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/10-000-homeless-after-fire-sweeps-through-bangladesh-slum
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