A fire gutted at least 40 shanties in a slum in the Ambagan area of Jhowtala in the port city yesterday.
Fire-fighters said the fire originated from a kitchen at the Chinnomul Basti in front of Met Office around 1:30am and soon engulfed the adjacent shanties of the slum.
Jasim Uddin, deputy assistant director of Fire Service and Civil Defence in Chittagong, said 40 out of 600 shanties were burnt in the flames, adding that no causalities were reported.
Three extinguishing units rushed to the spot and managed to douse the fire after two hours of frantic efforts. The estimated worth of the damaged properties could be Tk 25lakh, he added.
Meanwhile, unidentified miscreants set six houses on fire at Moulovibari under Nalua union of Satkania upazila in Chittagong early yesterday.
However, no casualty was reported from the incident.
Khaled Hossen, officer-in-charge of Satkania police station said miscreants torched six houses at Moulovibari of Nalua around 12:30am when the residents were in sleep.
On receiving information, fire fighters rushed to the spot and doused the fire with the help of locals after one-hour effort.
The incident might have taken place centring previous enmity, he said, adding that they were investigating into the mater.
