Nur Banu has been working tirelessly as a domestic help for the last one year saving up along with her street vendor husband about Tk 70,000 for a single purpose - to meet dowry demands of the in-laws of her daughter Ratna, 20, and make sure she had a happy marriage.

But the fire that burned down her shanty in a slum in the capital's East Rajabazar yesterday morning not only destroyed the money along with her belongings. It might have ruined Ratna's future too.

"They will abandon my daughter if I fail to pay," said Banu staring at her burnt home, her tears all dried up.

She said her in-laws, with whom Ratna lives with her street vendor husband in Barisal, thought she was trying to avoid paying them when she informed them over the phone about the fire.

Banu's was one of about 70 low-income families who helplessly witnessed their belongings in Aambagan Bosti, situated on a Dhaka University property, being burnt to ashes. Luckily, most of the families were outside. Most said they paid rents ranging from Tk 2,500 to 4,000 per month.

Another victim, Shefali Begum, was already worried sick over how she would send the usual Tk 5,000 to cover the monthly expenses of her three daughters living with their grandmother in Rangpur.

Living with her day labourer Abu Bakar in a room forTk 3,000 a month, the thought of making it past the month was weighing in on her too.

Slum dwellers alleged that at least 100 houses which were not burnt were looted.

"When the fire spread, I came out from the house with my family. But when 1 went back after two hours, I found nothing," said Jalal Shekh, a barber of West Tejturi Bazar. He said his younger brother Hasibul's adjoining house was also looted.

The fire broke out around 8:35am from a shanty and swiftly spread to adjacent ones, said fire service officials.

It took 16 fire engines about one and a half hours to douse the blaze, said the officials, adding that no casualty or injury was reported.

"I was getting ready to go to work and suddenly saw smoke billowing fast and heard screams of fire. I took my wife and children out of the house," said Shipon Prashad, who works at a diagnostics centre in Shyamoli.

"We suddenly saw flames engulfing the shanties," a weary Kalpana Begum told The Daily Star while moving her belongings in two trunks to a safer place. Many others were doing the same to save as much of their properties as possible.

Several victims told the correspondent that it would be a tough task for them to return to normalcy.

The district administration has started preparing a list of the victims from the evening, saying they would provide some relief materials within a short time.

The cause of the fire could not be known immediately, said officials.