Fire breaks out at Banani slum
A fire broke out at a slum in Banani area of the capital early Saturday. According to Fire Service officials, the fire broke out at Block K, Road No. 22, at Banani, engulfing the slum. The fire service officials received the information at 5:30 am, with the first firefighting unit arriving on the scene at 5:41 am. Firefighting teams from Baridhara, Tejgaon and Kurmitola fire stations, comprising a total of seven units, worked tirelessly to contain the blaze.The fire was brought under control by 6:36 am and fully extinguished by 8:30 am, they said. Fire Service's Deputy Director Md Saleh Uddin, who led the firefighting efforts, said that there have been no reports of casualties so far. An investigation is expected to determine the cause of the fire and assess the damage. — UNB
Dhaka world's 3rd most
air polluted city
Dhaka ranked third on the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality with an AQI score of 205 at 8:56 am on Saturday. Dhaka's air was classified as 'very unhealthy', according to the air quality and pollution city ranking. India's Delhi and Pakistan's Lahore occupied the first and second spots in the list, with AQI scores of 346 and 235, respectively. An AQI between 151 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy' while 201-300 is 'very unhealthy' and 301-400 is considered 'hazardous', posing severe health risks to residents. The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is and what associated health effects might be a concern for them. The AQI in Bangladesh is based on five pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2, and ozone. — UNB
15 return home after serving jail term in India
Fifteen Bangladeshis have returned home through Benapole check post after serving two years in jail in India. The Bangladeshi people, hailing from different parts of Narail, Khulna and Satkhira district, were handed over to Bangladesh immigration authorities at Benapole on Friday night. Benapole Immigration Police officer in-charge Ibrahim Ahmed said they went to India without valid documents in search of jobs with the help of local brokers two and a half years back. Mumbai police arrested them and a court sentenced them to two years imprisonment each for trespassing into the country. After the end of the jail term, Indian police handed them over to Benapole check post immigration police around 10:30 pm on Friday. Benapole police later handed them over to a representative of a human rights organisation in Jashore to send them back to their respective families. — UNB
Two teen 'muggers' held over killing of man on Jatrabari Flyover
Two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, have been asested for allegedly stabbing 23-year-old Hafiz Kamrul Hasan to death on the capital's Jatrabari Flyover. They were arrested in the Karatitola area of Jatrabari in the early hours on Saturday. Police have identified the pair as 'professional muggers,' claiming they admitted to the crime during preliminary interrogation.
"They primarily committed muggings in the area to support their drug habits," said Additional Deputy Commissioner Mofizul Islam of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Wari Division during a press briefing.
— bdnews24.com
