The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The death toll in the devastating fire at Rayerbazar slum Saturday night rose to six yesterday. Over 200 slum dwellers also received burn injuries and more than 1,200 shanties were gutted.

Fire Service and Mohammadpur thana police said they recovered five bodies during the night and another body was dug out from the debris Sunday morning.

Slum dwellers, however, claimed that after the fire incident, many others remained missing. As the fire gutted the entire slum, several thousands of slum dwellers had to remain under the open

Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) sources said among the bodies, three were male, two female and a child. As they were roasted alive, it was difficult to identify them.

Fire Services sources said the fire originated from a kitchen and later it spread out over the entire slum, which had over 1200 shanties.

They said 13 units of firefighters from various stations fought for about two hours to bring the fire under control.

Mohammadpur police said over 200 persons were injured. Many of them could not escape easily as the shanties were erected on poles in water. The injured persons were admitted to different hospitals in the area.

Police also apprehends that more dead bodies might be found under the debris.