A fire at the Khondokar Colony at Chandgao in Chittagong has caused widespread devastation. Around 40 houses have been burnt to cinder and people living in them have lost all their belongings.
Hazera Khatun, a resident of the colony, said in desperation: “all I had is lost, along with some accumulated cash from working as a maid; now we don’t know what we will do.”
Not a single house was spared from the blaze. Another woman, Zulekha Begum, said: “I went to work, keeping my younger son at home; after the fire broke out, he saved himself but all our material possessions are lost.”
Marzu Akhter, also a resident of the colony, said, she had lost Tk. 50000, gold ornaments and clothes.
From the rubble, she recovered a few burnt notes.
Parvin, also a resident, sounded crestfallen: “my husband had just learnt how to drive a CNG and loaned Tk. 10,000 to get a licence, which we kept in the house; now that is burnt to ash.”
Just before Eid, it’s a scene of misery and shattered hopes at the Chandgaon Khondokar Colony.