shantytown

A devastating fire swept through Dhaka’s sprawling Korail shantytown, destroying or damaging some 1,500 shanties and reducing tin-roofed dwellings to smouldering ruins, officials reported.

The inferno, which erupted on Tuesday evening, required 16 hours to extinguish, according to Rashed Bin Khalid, a duty officer at the fire department.

Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, the fire service’s director, confirmed approximately 1,500 shanties were burned or damaged, leaving thousands without shelter.

Official records indicate about 60,000 families — many displaced by climate disasters — inhabit this 65-hectare (160-acre) shantytown. Korail sits adjacent to Dhaka’s affluent Gulshan and Banani districts, surrounded by modern high-rise developments.

Dense smoke enveloped the area as flames consumed dwellings throughout the night.

By Wednesday, displaced residents desperately sifted through debris, attempting to salvage their belongings.

Firefighters reported difficulty accessing the blaze due to the area’s narrow pathways.

Dhaka, home to 10.2 million people as of 2024, contains hundreds of informal settlements populated by rural migrants fleeing poverty, exploitation, and climate-related calamities. Those living there typically survive on daily wages earned as rickshaw drivers, housemaids, and cleaners.

Some 60,000 families, many of them climate refugees, live in the area which covers more than 65 hectares (160 acres).

A fire in a densely populated and impoverished area in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka has burned or damaged 1,500 shanties, leaving thousands homeless, authorities say.

No casualties were reported as of Wednesday, a day after the fierce blaze broke out at the Korail shantytown. According to Rashed Bin Khalid, a fire department officer, it took 16 hours to douse the fire, which began on Tuesday evening.

The fire service’s director, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, said about 1,500 ramshackle dwellings were burned or damaged in the blaze, and thousands became homeless. Heavy smoke blanketed the area as flames engulfed the environs overnight.

According to official data, some 60,000 families, many of them climate refugees, live in the area, which covers more than 65 hectares (160 acres).

The area straddles Dhaka’s upscale Gulshan and Banani neighbourhoods, and it is surrounded by clusters of high-rise apartment and office buildings.

On Wednesday, residents who lost their homes were desperate to collect their valuables as they scoured the debris. Firefighters said they struggled to reach the area because of narrow alleys.

Dhaka, a city of 10.2 million people as of 2024, has hundreds of shantytowns where people from rural Bangladesh migrate because of poverty and exploitation.

Climate-induced disasters also push them to the city’s poorest areas, where they live on low-paid daily labour such as driving rickshaws and working as housemaids and cleaners.