- Title: "We have nothing now": Dhaka slum dwellers reel after blaze
- Date: 18th August 2019
- Summary: DHAKA, BANGLADESH (AUGUST 18, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING THROUGH DEBRIS LEFT BY FIRE IN SLUM VARIOUS OF PEOPLE STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (Bengali) SLUM DWELLER WHO LOST HER HOME IN FIRE, HAMIDA KAHTOON, SAYING: "I have nothing, I went with my son to my village (during Eid al-Adha), and now I see nothing is left, everything has burnt to ashes. I have not got any help from anybody." MEN STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (Bengali) SLUM DWELLER WHO LOST HER HOME IN FIRE, HAMIDA KAHTOON, SAYING: "Looking at this scene, my son fainted, I put water on him to get him back to his senses. My son left some money in the home. He went back to collect some of his clothes, but everything else was burnt. I had an auto-rickshaw (which her son was driving to earn money) that was also burnt." PEOPLE LOOKING AROUND, CORRUGATED IRON SLATS STREWN OVER GROUND VARIOUS OF WOMAN CROUCHING DOWN TO LOOK FOR VALUABLES IN ASHES MEN LOOKING THROUGH DEBRIS WOMAN CRYING AND SAYING (Bengali): "For the last two days, we've had no food, we have lost everything. We have nothing left. It's better to kill us, kill us - no one is helping us." WOMAN HOLDING CHILD AS ANOTHER WOMAN CRIES AND SHOUTS VARIOUS OF WOMEN LOOKING ON WOMEN LOOKING THROUGH CLOTHES BEING DISTRIBUTED (SOUNDBITE) (Bengali) SLUM DWELLER WHO LOST HIS HOME IN FIRE, MOHAMMAD BABUL, SAYING: "All burnt, we have nothing now. All our belongings and houses have been burnt. Whatever we had in our houses, we could not save. My belongings were worth about 500,000 taka ($5,900), I had some gold ornaments and other clothes, all were burnt. What else can I say? I have nothing more to say. There was some cash amount also." VARIOUS OF MAN COLLECTING BURNT CORRUGATED IRON FAMILIES WALKING AROUND NEAR SHELTER ENTRANCE TO LOCAL SCHOOL SERVING AS A SHELTER BANNER ON WALL READING (English): "SHELTER FOR THE VICTIMS" VARIOUS OF FAMILIES GATHERED IN SCHOOL COMPOUND VARIOUS OF FAMILIES IN CLASSROOMS
- Embargoed: 1st September 2019 09:11
- Keywords: homes Banglahdes fire fire slum fire Dhaka slum poverty fire aftermath Dhaka fire
- Location: DHAKA, BANGLADESH
- City: DHAKA, BANGLADESH
- Country: Bangladesh
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Fires,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001ASQTRUV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: About 3,000 people in Bangladesh were left homeless after a massive fire consumed several hundred shanties in a slum on the northern outskirts of the capital city of Dhaka, government officials said on Sunday (August 18).
Three people were injured in the blaze that struck a congested slum in Mirpur town on Friday (August 16) night. Video footage showed heavy plumes of smoke billowing all around the slum area, just a few kilometres from the country's main cricket stadium.
On Sunday morning, desperate slum dwellers picked through what remained of their homes, hoping to find something valuable.
"For the last two days, we've had no food, we have lost everything, we have nothing left. It's better to kill us, kill us - no one is helping us," cried one woman.
Disaster Management and Relief Junior Minister Enamur Rahman said the government will initially provide a total of 500 tonnes of rice and 1.3 million taka ($15,476) for everyone affected and authorities were looking into the reason for the fire and to assess the extent of the damage. He rejected some news reports that said many more homes were destroyed.
Fires at factories, slums and markets are common in Bangladesh. At least 25 people were killed in March this year when fire broke out in a 22-storey commercial building in Dhaka's upscale area of Banani.
(Production: Rafiqur Rahman, Natasha Howitt) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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