DHAKA: At least 43 people were killed Thursday night after a devastating fire ripped through a high-rise building in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka.
Minister of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh Samanta Lal Sen told Xinhua early Friday that they had confirmed the deaths.
The minister said 33 bodies were brought to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and 10 others to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka.
Anwarul Islam, an inspector of the Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters in Dhaka, earlier told Xinhua that around 75 people, including 42 in an unconscious state, were rescued from the “Green Cozy Cottage Shopping Mall” and were rushed to several hospitals.
Islam said rescuers were working at the site. He said they sent the firefighters after receiving information about the fire around 9.30 pm Thursday local time. At least 12 firefighting units rushed to the spot and doused the fire at about 11.30 pm.
The official said the seven-storey building houses a restaurant, a retail outlet and several other shops.
The death toll in the devastating inferno is likely to rise, warned another fire official, who did not want to be named.
TV reports early Friday showed fires were still raging in some parts of the building. The cause of the fire could not immediately be determined.
