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A devastating fire that raged for more than five hours in the Korail slum of Dhaka’s Mohakhali has finally been brought under control, while the air filled with the cries of residents who watched their homes collapse into ashes.
Fire Service spokesman Anwar Bin Sattar confirmed at 10:35pm on Tuesday that the flames, which had spread across a large section of the settlement, were contained, bdnews24.com reports.
Firefighters were still working to extinguish hotspots, and both the Fire Service and police said they had no reports of casualties so far.
Despite burning for over five hours, the effort to contain the flames was hampered by a severe shortage of water.
The Fire Service received the first alarm at 5:22pm and eventually deployed 19 units to the scene.
Firefighters said traffic congestion delayed their arrival, and once there, narrow lanes forced them to leave engines far from the site and drag long hoses through the settlement.
With water sources running low, crews set up a suction pump in a canal beside Boubazar around 7:30pm to boost supply.
A heavy police deployment struggled to manage the crowds surging around the scene.
While no casualties were confirmed, nearly everyone from the burned section said they had lost “everything”.
Sumon Ahmed, a resident, said: “I was outside when the fire started. I ran back after hearing the news and saw everything was gone.”
His wife and two children escaped safely, but they were unable to save any belongings.
Another resident, Fazlu, said more than 500 homes had been destroyed. “Nothing is left in the burnt section,” he said.
Tears streamed down the face of Saleha Begum as she repeated: “How will I survive? Everything I had is gone.”
Around 8:30pm, Lt Col Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, director (Operation and Maintenance) of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, had said the fire was most intense in the northeast section and spreading from there, while other parts were somewhat under control.
He added that crowds and narrow passages had made it difficult for firefighters to reach the site, and that some hoses had been damaged as they were pulled through the slum.
“We are continuing our efforts to control the fire and trying to reinforce our operation,” he said.