Massive fire sweeps slum in Bangladesh capital

DHAKA - A massive fire tore through one of the largest slums in Dhaka early Tuesday, destroying around 100 shanties and leaving hundreds of people homeless.

A total of 12 fire units battled hard for hours to extinguish the blaze at about 4:00 a.m. local time Tuesday, Fire Service Headquarters Duty Officer Lima Khanom told Xinhua.

The slum, called Saat Tola, in Dhaka's Mohakhali area, is a densely populated residential complex, home to thousands of poor residents.

No casualty has been reported so far.

And the firefighters have not determined yet the exact cause of the blaze.

According to the official, the fire originated at around 11:45 p.m. local time on Monday night and it soon engulfed many shanties.

"98 of the shanties made of scrap sheet iron, plastic and cardboard were destroyed fully or partially in the devastating fire," said the official.

But local media reports put the number of shanties destroyed in the fire at several hundreds.

Many affected slum dwellers were seen lament in open sky Tuesday morning as most of them left behind all valuables to save their lives.

In capital Dhaka, every year fires leave thousands of slum dwellers homeless.