A devastating fire swept through Dhaka’s sprawling Korail shantytown, destroying or damaging some 1,500 shanties and reducing tin-roofed dwellings to smouldering ruins, officials reported.

The inferno, which erupted on Tuesday evening, required 16 hours to extinguish, according to Rashed Bin Khalid, a duty officer at the fire department.

Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, the fire service’s director, confirmed approximately 1,500 shanties were burned or damaged, leaving thousands without shelter.

Official records indicate about 60,000 families — many displaced by climate disasters — inhabit this 65-hectare (160-acre) shantytown. Korail sits adjacent to Dhaka’s affluent Gulshan and Banani districts, surrounded by modern high-rise developments.

Dense smoke enveloped the a

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