Fire continues to spread across congested Korail slum

A devastating fire has been consuming Dhaka’s Korail slum for nearly three hours, with Fire Service units struggling to bring it under control.

As of around 8:15pm on Tuesday, numerous homes were still ablaze, flames leaping skyward.

As many as 19 units, along with residents of the area, are attempting to douse the inferno, but the fire has continued to spread across the congested settlement, duty officer Rashed Bin Khalid confirmed.

Witnesses described being stunned as their homes and belongings went up in flames.

Earlier, the Fire Service first received reports of the blaze at 5:22pm and deployed seven units, before bolstering the efforts with nine more units by around 6:30pm, according to officials. By 8pm, three more units had joined the effort.

The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage could not be immediately determined.

Korail spans roughly 36.42 hectares, adjacent to Dhaka’s upscale Gulshan and Banani areas, and contains around 10,000 densely packed homes, making it highly vulnerable to recurring fires.

Earlier incidents in the slum include a fire on Feb 21 this year, which destroyed at least a dozen homes, as well as blazes on Mar 24 and Dec 18 last year.

Narrow pathways and tightly clustered tin, bamboo, and wooden structures repeatedly hamper Fire Service efforts, allowing flames to spread rapidly.