CHITTAGONG — A fire tore through a slum in southern Bangladesh on Sunday killing at least 9 people and destroying hundreds of shanty homes, police said.

The blaze broke out in the port city of Chittagong at about 3.30 a.m. and raced through the district of bamboo, tin and tarpaulin homes, said local police chief Pranab Chowdhury. “At least 470 shanties were destroyed by the fire. So far 9 people have died. They included four members of a family,” fire brigade official Hefazatul Islam told AFP.

Fires regularly break out in Bangladesh’s slums, where millions live in squalid living conditions.

Rights groups have in the past alleged some shanty town blazes were deliberate acts of sabotage by developers seeking to free up property to construct multi-story buildings.

“We have seen fires are used as a weapon to evict poor slum dwellers and squatters from government or private property,” rights activist Nur Khan Liton said. — AFP