Shyadul Islam Talat
bdnews24.com correspondent

Dhaka, Jan 9 (bdnews24.com) – Jahanara Begum, 60, lost everything in the fire that destroyed her home along with hundreds of others at Dipikar Mor slum at south Begunbari on Friday.

"Nothing is left. Everything has been burned down. I spent the night awake by the side of a small fire lit by neighbours to protect themselves against cold," she told bdnews24.com on Saturday in the aftermath of the devastating blaze that burned down over 120 shanties and left an estimated 1,000 homeless.

Some were lucky to find space under the awnings of shops to save themselves from chilling dewfall.

But the slum blaze had deprived them of blankets and winter wear; they had nothing to save themselves from the cold excepting fire which, ironically, was to blame for the misery.

There were no reports of fatalities in Friday's blaze, but some received burn injuries.

The fire spread to the slum, with its hundreds of makeshift shanties, following the explosion of a gas cylinder at a nearby building. The fire first hit a number of tin-roofed brick houses before ravaging through the clusters of bamboo huts which were burnt to ashes by the time the fire was doused.

Fire-fighters from seventeen fire trucks took two hours, from 6pm to 8pm, to control the fire.

Jahanara said none of her family, excepting her rickshaw puller son, could go to work as the rest spent the day trying to collect what they could from the debris of the blaze.

"Even he (her son) did not want to go to work. But we needed the money. All that we had went up in the flames," she said.

Shahana, 30, was picking through what she could from the wrecked scene. She said, "I retrieved some spoons. There was a gold chain. I am not finding it."

She said that her family of seven used to live in a shanty at a monthly rent of Tk 2,000. She herself works in a garment factory. Her sister-in-law worked in a factory nearby. Her husband also worked in another factory.

They had just bought their monthly quota of rice after getting their salaries at the start of the month. There was a reserve fund stored in a can also. "But everything has been destroyed," she said.

The slum residents said most of them were outside at work when the blaze struck in the evening. By the time they received news and reached the site their houses were reduced to ashes. They could not save even a pot let alone their valuables.

Momtaz, 30, works as a cook at a factory. She recounted her losses: "I bought a television after getting a loan from a Samiti. There was some cash in my suitcase. But now there is nothing. How will I repay the loan?"

Many affected people were seen sitting on the fire debris in a melancholy mood, some in tears. Others were trying to retrieve what they could from the wrecks of their homes. Still others had gone to the local ward's AL office where relief was being distributed.

Monir, an AL worker in Ward 37, told bdnews24.com that relief received from the government was being distributed there. A list of 550 families affected by the blaze has been made. Each family is being distributed one blanket, Tk 2,000 and 20kg of rice.

Shahjahan and his grandmother Anowara, after receiving relief, said, "We have received the money and blanket today. The rice will be distributed tomorrow."

Even after suffering such losses, there is no time to lament. Only the women folk and small children were there at the site on Saturday.

When questioned on the whereabouts of the men, Sufia, 30, replied, "There is no rice left. We did not eat anything last night. If they don't go to work, we would have to go without food today also. So they have gone to work. We also need a new place to live."

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