Dhaka, Mar 1 (EFE).- At least 46 people were killed and many injured in a fire in a multi-storey commercial building in an upmarket area of Dhaka, authorities reported Friday.
The blaze is believed to have broken out at Kachchi Bhai restaurant on the first floor at about 9.45pm (15:45 GMT) on Thursday night and spread to other floors in the seven-storey building that houses a shopping mall in the Bangladeshi capital’s Baily Road area, a popular hangout place for young people.
“So far, to our knowledge, 46 people have died. Most of them died or were injured due to carbon monoxide poisoning. When one cannot get out (in such a situation), smoke enters the throat,” Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen told reporters Friday afternoon.
In the early hours of Friday, the minister had reported an initial death toll of 43, with 22 injured, but the number of injured has not been officially updated since.
“Those who are still alive are not out of danger,” he warned.
Relatives and survivors described to journalists how their loved ones had called them from the restaurant when the fire broke out and went incommunicado within minutes.
“I was at the restaurant with my wife and two kids. My children received minor injuries, but thanks to the Almighty, we managed to come out alive as the fire service rescued us,” Mohammad Kamruzzaman, an environmentalist and private university professor, told EFE.
According to local media, among the victims are at least five members of one family who went out to dinner for the arrival of the weekend, which takes place on Friday and Saturday in the country.
For now, the cause of the fire is not known. Authorities have formed a five-member committee to investigate the incident.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her shock and sorrow at the incident, and passed on her condolences to bereaved families, according to state media.
President Mohammed Sahabuddin also sent condolences and wished a quick recovery to the injured.
Fires and industrial accidents are common in Bangladesh, a country with poor security measures, where such incidents often result in high death tolls.
In the last major incident in June 2022, an explosion and subsequent fire at a container depot in southeastern Bangladesh killed 41 people and wounded over 200.
Another similar fire affected the center of the Bangladeshi capital on Mar. 7 last year when an explosion occurred in a building that left 15 people dead and another 39 injured. EFE
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