The fire initially broke out in a four-storey building last night and quickly expanded to nearby buildings in the Chawkbazar area of Old Dhaka.
At least 70 people lost their lives Thursday in a fire that spread to a centuries-old area of Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, which dates back to the Mughal period more than 300 years ago. The fire initially broke out at a chemical warehouse on the ground floor of a four-storey building named Hazi Wahed Mansion behind a Mosque in Old Dhaka’s Chawkbazar area and quickly expanded to nearby buildings.
Fire officials said the death toll might rise as there were dozens of people trapped in the buildings and the firefighters were yet to enter the point from where the fire originated, which is a hotspot.
“Most of the bodies were retrieved from the houses around that building while firefighters now prepare to enter into the five-storey building, the main spot in search of more bodies,” PTI quoted a police official at the scene as saying.
The second, third and fourth floors of the building were used as warehouses and plastic factories, according to fire officials. Few were residential flats as well.
The death toll from last night jumped to 70 Thursday morning. Earlier, the death toll was quoted as 10 by Fire Service and Civil Defence Director General Ali Ahmed Khan, as per Reuters.
“The number could rise further as searching is still continuing,” Reuters quoted Julfikar Rahman, a director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence as saying.
Around 50 people were rushed to to Dhaka’s two major state-run facilities – Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s burn unit and Sir Salimullah Medical College, some in critical condition, Rahman said.
Apart from the people trapped inside the buildings, the witnesses accounted that the fire claimed lives of passerby, a few people who were having a meal at nearby restaurants and some members of a wedding party.
It took more than five hours to douse the fire, however, the area was still lit early Thursday morning.
Rahman said the firefighters had to draw water from a nearby mosque to fight the blaze as they struggled to find adequate water supplies.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
Building safety regulations are rarely followed in impoverished Bangladesh, where accidents kill hundreds every year.
Fire officials said the death toll might rise as there were dozens of people trapped in the buildings and the firefighters were yet to enter the point from where the fire originated, which is a hotspot.
“Most of the bodies were retrieved from the houses around that building while firefighters now prepare to enter into the five-storey building, the main spot in search of more bodies,” PTI quoted a police official at the scene as saying.
The second, third and fourth floors of the building were used as warehouses and plastic factories, according to fire officials. Few were residential flats as well.
The death toll from last night jumped to 70 Thursday morning. Earlier, the death toll was quoted as 10 by Fire Service and Civil Defence Director General Ali Ahmed Khan, as per Reuters.
“The number could rise further as searching is still continuing,” Reuters quoted Julfikar Rahman, a director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence as saying.
Around 50 people were rushed to to Dhaka’s two major state-run facilities – Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s burn unit and Sir Salimullah Medical College, some in critical condition, Rahman said.
Apart from the people trapped inside the buildings, the witnesses accounted that the fire claimed lives of passerby, a few people who were having a meal at nearby restaurants and some members of a wedding party.
It took more than five hours to douse the fire, however, the area was still lit early Thursday morning.
Rahman said the firefighters had to draw water from a nearby mosque to fight the blaze as they struggled to find adequate water supplies.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
Building safety regulations are rarely followed in impoverished Bangladesh, where accidents kill hundreds every year.