I couldn't save anything but my life

The woman in her 60s was having lunch in the open, in front of the ruins of what used to be her home. It was her only shelter and only source of livelihood. A fire early yesterday destroyed it all, leaving Hashi Rani and her husband Shankar Das, 80, destitute.

Too old to work, the couple owned five shanties in Adarsha Nagar area of Mohakhali's Dakkhin Para and used to make a living by renting them out.

Theirs were among 120 shanties that were gutted. Residents said the fire might have originated from an electric short-circuit at an NGO-run school in the slum area, around 12:30am.

Around 500 people became homeless in the fire, according to the residents.

“My family was dependent on the monthly rent of Tk 9,500. I couldn't save anything but my life,” Hashi Rani said, wiping off her tears.

In the afternoon, the homeless residents of the shanties were seen sitting under the open sky with vacant looks and no belongings.  One of them, called Yasin, said, “We had khichuri in the morning, but don't have anything for lunch.” “However, the local commissioner visited the place in the morning and promised some assistance,” he said.

Residents said that after the fire, many came to the rescue while many came to loot.

Talking about the source of the fire, locals said they first saw the fire break out in the NGO school that used to teach the poor children of the shanties. Najma, owner of the school house, told The Daily Star, “I rented four rooms out at only Tk 4,000 as they took it to teach the poor children.”

There was no gas line in the rooms, but there was an electricity connection, she said, adding that all switches, however, were turned off as the school would close at 5:00pm every day.

She said, “I don't know whether the short circuit was the cause of the fire.”

Visiting the scene, a few students said they did not know when their academic activities would resume.

Parul Akhter, a slum community leader, told The Daily Star that there were around 6,400 shanties in Mahakhali's Dakkhin Para area; the 120 were among them.

She said the fire fighters reached the spot after half an hour and put it off after one and a half hours' effort.

Only a week ago, on December 4, a fire destroyed 495 shanties in the capital's Korail slum.