Kathmandu. Dhaka: Nearly 1,500 huts were gutted in a massive fire that swept through the crowded Corel hut in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Tuesday evening. At the same time, thousands of residents have been left homeless, officials said.

The fire was brought under control 16 hours later, according to Rashid bin Khalid, duty officer with the fire service and civil defence department. Director of the fire service, Lieutenant Colonel Md Tajul Islam Chowdhury, said the fire had affected a large area and the number of victims was very high.

About 60,000 families live in the Korel slum spread over 65 hectares (160 acres). The number of climate-affected refugees is significant. The slum is surrounded by high-rise apartments and office buildings, adjacent to Dhaka’s high-rise residential areas such as Gulshan and Banani.

A thick cloud of smoke was visible in the area as the fire spread throughout the night. On Wednesday morning, residents were seen walking among the rubble of their homes, searching for some of the charred items. Firefighters said narrow lanes and haphazard structures made it difficult to reach the site.

With a population of 12 million in 2024, Dhaka has become home to hundreds of slums. In rural Bangladesh, poverty, lack of employment and climate-induced disasters force victims to migrate to overcrowded and dangerous urban ghettos, where they make ends meet as daily wage labourers, rickshaw pullers, domestic workers and sanitation workers.