AMN
At least 43 people, including 26 women and three children, were killed and 22 critically injured in a fire that broke out at the seven-storey Shopping Mall on Bailey Road in Dhaka last night. Bangladesh Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen said that 33 of the deceased died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital and 10 at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery. He added that the conditions of all the 22 people are critical.
Doctors at the DMCH and the adjacent facility said that some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and feared the death toll could rise. Fire service officials said they rescued 75 people, including 42 in an unconscious state from the scene, a seven-storey building.
The fire broke out at around 9:50 pm at a restaurant called “Kachchi Bhai” located on the first floor and quickly spread upstairs where some more restaurants and a readymade garments shop were housed.
Witnesses and officials said the panicked people tried to rush upstairs to be chased by the blaze as well while the firefighters rescued many of them using ladders.
Firefighters brought the flames under control after two hours of frantic efforts, said Brig Gen Main Uddin, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence. He said many of the victims died of suffocation because of the smoke, reports Daily Star.
There were only two lifts and a staircase in the building with no emergency exit and other safety issues, said a top fire service official.