DHAKA, Bangladesh — A fire in a crowded slum in Bangladesh’s capital has burned or damaged 1,500 shanties, leaving thousands homeless, authorities said Wednesday. No casualties were reported.

The blaze, which began Tuesday evening at the Korail slum in Dhaka, was doused Wednesday after 16 hours, said Rashed Bin Khalid, a duty officer at the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defense.

The fire service's director, Lt. Col. Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, said about 1,500 shanties were burned or damaged in the blaze and thousands remained homeless.

According to official data, about 60,000 families — many of them climate refugees — live in the slum which has an area of more than 160 acres (65 hectares). The slum straddles Dhaka’s upscale Gulshan and Banani neighborhoods, and it is surroun

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