50 shanties gutted in Tejgaon slum fire

Around 50 shanties were gutted in a fire that ripped through a slum during an eviction drive was in progress in Dhaka’s Tejgaon industrial area this noon.

No one was injured in the incident so far.

An eviction drive conducted by the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) knocked down around 150 establishments in the slum, our staff correspondent reports from the spot.

Police were executing the drive, however, at one stage some shanties caught fire which soon engulfed the surrounding areas around 12:10pm, said Jahangir Alam, 50, a dweller of the slum.

According to the Fire Service and Civil Defence, three fire-fighting units brought the flames under control, which erupted at the slum near Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC)’s old gate in Tejgaon industrial area.

The fire originated around 12:10pm from the various objects piled in the slum during the eviction drive there, Kamrul Hasan, a duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence, told The Daily Star.

On information, the firefighters rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control around 12:40pm, he said.