Two children were burnt alive in a fire at a slum in the capital's Mohammadpur area on Sunday morning.

The fire that broke out at Poolpar slum in Battala Kantasur area at about 8:30am also gutted 500 shanties and 40 shops.

But, Mohammadpur thana officer-in-charge Azizul Haque confirmed death of a minor girl.
 
She was identified as Fatema, the three-and-a-half year old daughter of an auto-rickshaw driver Joynal, he said.

Slum dwellers said Fatema's mother took her elder sister to school keeping Fatem inside her room asleep when the fire originated.

The reason behind the blaze could not be known yet.
 
Sources in Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense headquarters said on information, 11 fire-fighting units from Mohammadpur, Plassey, Lalbagh and central control room rushed to the spot to douse the fire at about 10am.

LY