A fire in a shanty town in the port city of Chittagong, Bangladesh, on 17th February, killed nine people and destroyed around five hundred slum homes of bamboo, tin and tarpaulin. Slum areas in developing countries are at high risk of fire, because of flammable materials, open cooking, absence of fire gaps and difficult access for fire services. Additionally, fires may be started deliberately to clear areas by authorities or property developers (see Xinjiang, Beijing fire, November 2017 in pinfa Newsletter n°89). Bangladesh human rights activist Nur Khan Liton stated “We have seen fires are used as a weapon to evict poor slum dwellers and squatters from government or private property”.
Bangladesh Chittagong fire, 17 February 2019 https://www.gulf-times.com/story/622524/Nine-dead-in-Bangladesh-slum-fire and http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30364273