Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen stated that a massive fire in Bangladesh that engulfed a six-story building with restaurants killed at least 46 people and injured dozens, according to Reuters.
The fire was localised only after a two-hour effort by 13 units of firefighters. They used cranes to rescue people from the charred building, according to fire officials who were still working to clear debris and extinguish remaining embers. Relatives gathered at the hospital early Friday morning to receive the bodies of the victims, some mourning outside the emergency room.
22 people with burn wounds are being treated in hospitals, the health minister informed after visiting the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
All 22 people […] are in critical condition. We are trying our best to save their lives.
A shocked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed regret over the incident, ordering immediate treatment for the injured.
Doctors claimed that most of the victims died as a result of suffocation, while others died after jumping off the building. Brigadier General Main Uddin, a senior fire service official, suggested that the fire could have been caused by a gas or oven leak. Uddin added that the building had a single staircase, no ventilation, no emergency exit and no other safety features.
“It was a dangerous building with gas cylinders on every floor, even on the stairs.”
The government established a five-member commission to investigate the incident. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) blamed the government for the fire, while Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir declared:
Accidents and disasters keep happening as there is no rule of law. The government is not accountable to the people and that’s why anarchy prevails, many accidents occur and people lose their lives.
Fires are a common phenomenon in densely populated Dhaka, where a lot of new buildings have been constructed, many of which lack proper safety measures. Fires and explosions occur mainly due to faulty gas cylinders, air conditioners and poor electrical wiring.
