Fire guts 500 shanties

Around 500 houses were gutted in a fire that broke out near Senakalyan Bhaban on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway at the Hazi Mazar slum in Tongi of the district on Saturday.

According to the slum dwellers, the fire broke out around 4am and soon engulfed the adjacent shanties.

On information, nine firefighting units rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control around 7am, after trying for 3 hours. Five people were injured in the incident.

However, the names of the injured were not immediately known, confirmed Fire Service and Civil Defence Senior Station Officer Md. Iqbal Hasan said.