Fire kills at least 8 people in southeastern Bangladesh

DHAKA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed as fire engulfed a slum in Bangladesh's southeastern seaport city Chattogram on Sunday, fire service said.

Authorities said the blaze burned some 200 closely packed thatched houses to the ground in the city, some 292 km away from capital Dhaka, rendering several thousand poor people homeless.

Jashim Uddin, a deputy director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence in Chattogram, said that they had recovered the bodies of eight people.

Many of the injured who suffered severe burn injuries were taken hospitals.

Several units of the Fire Service and Civil Defence took nearly one hour to extinguish the flames, he said. An investigate will be launched to find the cause of the fire.