Thousands of people have been left homeless in a fire that broke out at a slum in Mirpur's Rupnagar on Wednesday (Mar 11).
The fire was brought under control around 12:30 pm, nearly three hours after it broke out, said Fire Service Director (operations and maintenance) Zillur Rahman.
According to locals there are at least 5,000 shanties in the slum the residents have been forced to take shelter on the roads.
Nazmul, a resident said that the fire broke out near house no 32 and razed through the slum.
Zillur Rahman said that as many as 25 fire fighting units worked to bring the blaze under control.
He added that so far no deaths have been reported and nearly half the houses have been gutted.
He said that a four-member committee has been formed to probe the incident and they have been told submit the report within 10 working days.
Local lawmaker Md Elias Uddin Mollah said that those affected in the fire will be provided support.
Earlier this year, a woman died of her burn injuries as a massive fire gutted Chalantika Jhilpar slum, located at Mirpur 7, on Jan 24, razing at least 377 rooms to the grounds.