Dark smokes of the fire at Madhya Badda take a giant shape which can be seen from Hatirjheel area on Monday. Photo taken from Facebook/ TrafficAlert.BD

Over two hundred shanties were gutted in a huge fire which broke out at a slum in Merul Badda in Dhaka this afternoon, fire fighters said.

The fire originated at a house around 12:55pm and spread quickly to the surrounding tin-shed shanties, Abdul Halim, deputy assistant director of fire service and civil defence of Dhaka, told The Daily Star.

Sixteen units of fire fighters brought the blazes at the slum located by a jheel (water body) in the area around 1:55pm, the fire service official said.

No casualties were reported in the incident, he said adding that fire fighters were conducting a search operation amidst the debris, the fire service official said.

Origin of the fire was not known immediately.

Meanwhile, the ongoing traffic was disrupted on roads linking Gulshan, Badda and Rampura due to the fire incident, locals reported.

Most of the shanties were under lock and key as the residents were away on Eid holidays and attending work.