It was a day that began like any other for Alo Akhter, a middle-aged vegetable seller with dreams as modest as her means. As the clock struck 1:30am on Saturday, Alo embarked on her daily journey to Karwan Bazar, leaving behind the comforting embrace of her shanty.

Little did she know that the joyous moment she shared with her two-year-old grandson Nafi and daughter Sharmin Akhter would be the last glimmer of happiness before the tragedy struck.
The tranquillity of the night shattered when news of a devastating fire at the Mollabari slum –situated next to the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation in the capital’s Tejgaon – reached Alo’s ears, prompting her to rush back.

The very shanty where she had left her daughter and grandson moments ago was engulfed in a merciless blaze, consuming 300 others.
As the flames raged, and firefighters battled the inferno, Alo desperately searched for her loved ones amidst the smouldering ruins. Her shanty, like countless others, succumbed to the fiery wrath, leaving nothing but ashes in its wake. The once lively slum now lay in ruins.

When the blaze was finally subdued, Alo,
with a heavy heart, sought her daughter and grandson in the aftermath, only to face the grim reality. Two charred bodies were recovered by the firefighters, now resting in the morgue of Shahid Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, awaiting identification through DNA tests.

In tears, Mizanur Rahman, Alo’s son-in-law, revealed a heart-wrenching tale of shattered plans. His wife Sharmin and their son Nafi had arrived from their home district of Jamalpur, planning to return on Monday. The train tickets he had booked had been rendered meaningless by the merciless flames that consumed their dreams.

With the death of the two persons, the flames at the slum along the Tejgaon railway also injured four other dwellers – Nazma Begum, Nazrul Islam, Nur Mohammad and Lyon. They are undergoing treatment at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, according to the police and the Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD).
Anwarul Islam, an officer of the FSCD media cell, said the FSCD control room came to know about the blaze at 2:23am and 13 units of firefighters reached the spot and brought the fire under control at 3:40am.
“The firefighters recovered two charred bodies,” he said.

Like Alo, several hundred dwellers of 300 gutted shanties are now living under the open sky in the cold wave, said affected slum dwellers.
Two of them are Sathia and Razia who told the Daily Sun that they somehow managed to come out of their shanties with their lives.
“I do not know where I, along with my two children, will live and what we will eat,” said Sathia.

Considering the ongoing chilling cold weather in the country, the affected dwellers sought immediate shelter and food assistance from the government.
Director (Operation and Maintenance) of the FSCD Lt Col Tajul Islam Chowdhury said, “Generally, fire at slums breaks out due to electric short circuits or gas. Some dwellers of the Mollabari slum said the fire broke out due to an electric short circuit while others said it was caused by gas cylinders. But we will look into the incident to know the exact reason.”

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Habibur Rahman visited the sport and said police would investigate to know if the incident was an accident or sabotage.
In response to a question on the role of the shanty owners, he said the owners of the slum are the Molla family. Police will probe to know about the legality of water, gas, and electricity connections in the slum.
Shajahan Shikder, in charge of the FSCD media cell, told the Daily Sun the FSCD formed a five-member probe committee to look into the fire incident with Tajul Islam Chowdhury as the head. The committee has been asked to submit its report within 15 working days.

According to statistics from the FSCD, six people were killed and 29 injured in 119 slum fires across the country in 2022. The FSCD could not provide information on how many fire incidents took place in 2023.
In 2022, the number of fire incidents was 24,102, of which, 9,275 broke out due to electric short circuits.