At least 114 people were killed in a fire that razed a crowded, centuries-old Dhaka neighbourhood overnight as rescue workers today pulled bodies from smouldering debris.
The fire, which broke out about 10.30pm, was the worst to sweep through the Bangladeshi capital in almost four decades.
"The confirmed death toll from the fire is now 114 and may rise," Muhibul Haque, district commissioner of Dhaka, told Reuters. He said more than 40 people were being treated for burns in hospital, with 12 in critical condition.
Fuelling the flames, which some witnesses said rose up to six-storeys high, were chemicals from illegal, home-based factories in the Kayettuli neighbourhood, one of the most densely populated in Dhaka and in the heart of the city.
TV channels put the death toll at between 107 and 150, including a dozen people who died in hospital from injuries sustained in the blaze which was believed to have been started by an explosion in an electrical transformer.
Firefighters said narrow streets and the density of the buildings hampered their access, and the chemicals in the area helped the fire spread quickly. The neighbourhood is home to several modern multi-storey structures, and small, tin-roofed dwellings, some which also house chemical factories.
"I never have had such a harrowing experience in my 40 years here," said a doctor at the burns unit of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, as patients crammed the corridors and sobbing relatives searched for their loved ones.
TV channels reported nearly 150 people, many suffering from serious burns, had been admitted to hospitals after the fire.
The government announced today as a day of mourning. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her grief over the fire and ordered the best possible treatment of the victims. "I have no words to console them," said Home Minister Sahara Khatun while visiting the hospital late yesterday.
Opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia also went to the hospital, with leaders of her Bangladesh Nationalist party.
Police officers and firefighters said they would provide an official tally of casualty figures as soon as search and rescue operations were over, most likely Friday afternoon.
The government has ordered an investigation to find the exact cause of the fire.
Reuters