Korail Slum fire under control

The fire at Korail slum in Dhaka’s Mohakhali has been brought under control after more than five hours of efforts by 20 units of the Fire Service and Civil Defence.

The blaze was brought under control at around 10:35 pm on Tuesday, Fire Service Warehouse Inspector Anwarul Islam confirmed in a notification.

Earlier, A devastating fire burnt shanties and other establishments at Korail slum in Dhaka in the evening.

“A total of 20 firefighting units are working to douse the blaze,” Rakibul Hasan, duty officer at the Fire Service and Civil Defence control room, told the Daily Sun.

Firefighters were alerted to the incident at 5:22pm. However, the cause of the fire could not be known immediately.

Witnesses said firefighting units reached the spot 40 minutes late due to the traffic congestion after being informed about the incident. 

By then, the fire spread to other shanties, while slum dwellers tried to save themselves and whatever belongings they could.

Members of the Fire Service are struggling to bring the blaze under control due to a shortage of water. Alongside the Fire Service personnel, local people are also trying to fight the fire by collecting water from tube wells or nearby water bodies. 

Fire Service and Civil Defence has expressed optimism that the massive fire that broke out at the capital’s Korail slum on Tuesday night will be fully brought under control within the next one to two hours.

During a late-night briefing on the situation, Fire Service Director (Operation & Maintenance) Lt Col Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury said that firefighters have managed to confine the blaze from three sides, while efforts continue to contain the remaining portion.

“We hope to bring the fire completely under control within one to two hours,” he said.

Initially, 16 units were deployed to the scene, but considering the scale of the fire, the number was later increased to around 20. According to the director, the intensity of the flames has decreased and the fire has been restricted in several segments of the slum.

The Fire Service reported that the fire spread quickly largely because units faced delays in reaching the scene.

It took the first team approximately 30–35 minutes to arrive due to narrow lanes, traffic congestion, and heavy crowding.

In addition to the logistical obstacles, unruly behaviour by some individuals in the crowd further hampered fire-control efforts.

There were instances of fire hoses being cut, pipe joints being tampered with, and scuffles with law enforcement officers, the director said.

Although there is no shortage of water, Tajul noted that reaching the core of the fire is time-consuming.

The large size of the slum requires multiple pipe connections across long distances, slowing operations.

He added that some areas are still showing active flames. Only after all remaining hotspots are identified and extinguished can the fire service officially declare the fire fully under control.

The slum, spread over around 90 acres near the upscale areas of Gulshan and Banani in the city, has around 10,000 shanties and is prone to frequent fires. 

In February, a fire burnt dozens of shanties in the slum.