Afire broke out in Hlaingthaya Township’s Dinesu Wardat about 5:30pm yesterday, killing a woman and burning down more than 50 homes. The site of the blaze was near the Pun Hlaing Golf Resort and Hlaingthaya Industrial Zone-6.

The fire started in a motorcycle repair shop and then spread to the surrounding squatter shelters. Around 250 people who lost their homes in the fire are now staying at the Maha Wizaya Buddhist Monastery in the same ward.

“The resident of a home at the corner of U Tun Nyo Street and Market Street repaired motorbikes. Rice was cooking nearby. He removed the carburetor of a motorcycle to wash it. Petrol gushed out and spread to the fire stove. The petrol caught fire, which spread to the motorcycle and the roof,” an officer from Yangon Region Fire Services Department toldEleven.

The wife of the homeowner was inside when the fire started. She was suffocated by the smoke, the officer added.

Over 300 firefighters using 26 fire trucks and a convoy of other vehicles rushed to the scene and extinguished the fire by 6pm.