At least 43 people were killed in a massive fire that raced through a six-storey building in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, late on Thursday.
Dozens are injured in the fire, and the condition of many remains critical due to burn injuries and respiratory issues, Health Minister Dr Samanta Lal Sen said on Friday.
Health officials fear that the death toll may go up.
The fire broke out around 9:50 pm on Thursday at a restaurant on the building’s first floor and quickly spread to the upper floors that had more restaurants and a garment shop. Rescuers evacuated 75 people, including 42 in unconscious state, from the seven-storey building. Thirteen fire service units were mobilised, the officials said.
“Thirty-three people died at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and 10 at (the nearby) Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery,” Sen said. The minister, a burn wound specialist, said 22 people are being treated at both the health facilities and their condition is “critical”.
“The respiratory system of those who have survived so far has been seriously damaged,” Sen told reporters at the DMCH. Doctors said some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and feared that the death toll could rise.
Witnesses and officials said to escape the fire, people rushed to the upper floors. Many were rescued by fire-fighters using ladders, they added.
“When the fire started in the front and broke the glass, our cashier and servicemen made got everyone out. But both of them died later. I went to the kitchen, broke a window and jumped to save myself,” a survivor, Altaf, told news agency Reuters.
As per local sources, it was a dangerous building with gas cylinders on every floor, even on the staircases. The cause of the fire is yet to be identified, and the authorities have launched a probe into the incident.