44 people died in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka late Thursday after a fire blazed through a seven-storey building. The blaze in the building in Dhaka’s upscale Bailey Road, which also contains a popular biryani restaurant, has been contained.
The fire started in the popular restaurant around 10pm local time, spreading quickly through the eatery and engulfing dozens dining inside. Firemen brought the blaze under control and a probe has been launched to ascertain what led to the blaze.
33 people, including women and children, were declared dead at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital while 10 others died at the city’s main burns hospital, Bangladesh’s Health Minister, Samanta Lal Sen, said.
The emergency services were called to the Kacchi Bhai restaurant. Kacchi Bhai, a popular chain of restaurants, is in a building that has seven floors. The restaurant in its website is claiming that the fire started at a restaurant in the lower floors of the building.
The building also houses other restaurants, as well as several clothing and mobile phone shops.
“We were on the sixth floor when we first saw smoke racing through the staircase. A lot of people rushed upstairs,” said a restaurant manager called Sohel, while speaking to news agency AFP.
“We used a water pipe to climb down the building. Some of us were injured as they jumped from upstairs,” he said.
Others were trapped on the rooftop and called out for help.
Another survivor, Mohammad Altaf, said he narrowly escaped the blaze through a broken window. He said two of his colleagues who helped people escape the blaze later died.
In Bangladesh, fires in commercial and residential buildings are common and are blamed on lack of safety awareness and inadequate enforcement of regulations.
In July 2021, at least 52 people were killed including many children when a fire swept through a food processing factory.
In February 2019, 70 people died when an inferno ripped through several Dhaka apartment blocks.
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