Dozens killed in building fire in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka
At least 43 people have been killed and dozens injured after a fire blazed through a seven-storey building in an upmarket neighbourhood in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka.
“So far 43 people have died from the fire,” Bangladesh’s health minister Samanta Lal Sen said late on Thursday after visiting the Dhaka medical college hospital and an adjoining burns hospital.
Sen said another 22 people were being treated for severe burns and were in critical condition.
Fire department official Mohammad Shihab said the blaze originated in a popular biriyani restaurant in Dhaka’s Bailey Road at 9.50pm Thursday (15.50GMT), and quickly spread to the upper floors, trapping scores of people. It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control in two hours, he said. They rescued 75 people alive, a statement from the fire service said.
Survivor Mohammad Altaf, speaking to reporters, recounted narrowly escaping the blaze through a broken window. Two of his coworkers perished, he said.
“When the fire started in the front and broke the glass, our cashier and servicemen made get everyone out. But both of them died later. I went to the kitchen, broke a window and jumped to save myself,” Altaf said.
Relatives of the fire victims gathered at the hospital in the early hours of Friday to receive the bodies of their loved ones, while some were seen grieving outside the emergency department.
Many people were dining with family members including children in the building that houses mostly restaurants along with several clothing and mobile phone shops. Most of the people who perished died from suffocation and some died as they jumped off the building, doctors said.
“We were at the sixth floor when we first saw smoke racing through the staircase. A lot of people rushed upstairs. We used a water pipe to climb down the building. Some of us were injured as they jumped from upstairs,” said a restaurant manager called Sohel.
Others were trapped on the rooftop and called out for help.
“Alhamdulillah. We are sending down all women and children including my wife and children. We all
men are in rooftop. Fire service stands beside us. Fifty yet to be down,” wrote Kamruzzaman Majumdar, a professor of environmental science, in a Facebook post.
He was later rescued safely. Bangladesh fire service and civil defence director Brigadier General Main Uddin said the fire could have originated from a gas leak or stove. “It was a dangerous building with gas cylinders on every floor, even on the staircases,” he told reporters.
A five-member committee has been formed to investigate the incident.
Fires in apartment buildings and factory complexes are common in Bangladesh due to lax enforcement of safety rules.
In July 2021, at least 52 people including many children were killed when a fire swept through a food processing factory.
In February 2019, 70 people died when an inferno ripped through several Dhaka apartment blocks.