DHAKA, Bangladesh: At least 43 people were killed and dozens wounded after a fire ripped through a seven-storey building in an upscale neighbourhood in the capital city Dhaka late Thursday, said health authorities.
“So far 43 people have died from the fire,” Bangladesh’s health minister Samanta Lal Sen said after visiting the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and an adjoining burn hospital.
The fire broke out at a popular biryani restaurant on Baili Street in Dhaka at 9:50 p.m. on Thursday and quickly spread to the upper floors, where many people were said to have been trapped, said fire official Mohammad Shahab.
He said firefighters were able to extinguish the fire within two hours.
Fire officials said they rescued 75 people alive.
The buildings on Bailey Street are mostly restaurants, but also a few clothing and mobile phone stores.
“We were at the sixth floor when we first saw smoke racing through the staircase. A lot of people rushed upstairs. We used a water pipe to climb down the building. Some of us were injured as they jumped from upstairs,” said a restaurant manager called Sohel.
Fires in apartment buildings and industrial complexes are common in Bangladesh due to poor enforcement of safety rules.
In July 2021, a fire at a food processing plant killed at least 52 people, including many children.
In February 2019, Inferno hit several apartment blocks in Dhaka, killing 70 people.
