Bangladesh: 43 people killed and dozens injured in fire in Dhaka

A recurring evil has befallen Bangladesh. At least 43 people were killed and dozens injured in a fire that destroyed a seven-story building in an upscale area of ​​the capital Dhaka on Thursday night, the government said. “So far, 43 people have died as a result of the disaster,” Health Minister Samantha Lal Sen told AFP after visiting Dhaka Medical College Hospital and another nearby facility that specializes in treating victims of serious burns, where at least 40 injured were admitted. .

Mohammad Shihab, a fire official, said the fire broke out at the popular restaurant on Bailey Road at 9:50 pm on Thursday (4:50 pm in France) and quickly spread upward, trapping scores of people. According to him, the fire was localized in two hours. A total of 75 people were rescued, firefighters said in a statement. Bailey Road is mainly home to restaurants, as well as a few clothing and mobile phone stores.

Frequent fires in Bangladesh

“We were on the sixth floor when we started seeing smoke coming up the stairs. Many people rushed upstairs, said Sohel, the restaurant manager. As for us, we used the water pipe to go down. Some of us were injured during the jump. » The rest were stuck on the roof and called for help.

“We are tearing down all the women and children, including my wife and children. All of us men are on the roof. The firefighters are on our side. We still have fifty people to kill,” Kamruzzaman Majumdar, a professor of environmental sciences, wrote on Facebook before he was in turn rescued.

Fires in apartment buildings and industrial complexes are common in Bangladesh due to lax enforcement of safety regulations. In July 2021, a fire at a food plant killed at least 52 people, including many children. In February 2019, 70 people died in a fire that engulfed several residential buildings in Dhaka.