43 Killed As Fire Engulfs Multi-Storey Building In Bangladesh's Dhaka, Dozens Wounded

At least 43 people were killed and 22 injured after a seven-storey building collapsed overnight following a fire in the central part of the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka. Health Minister Dr. Samanta Lal Sen told the media that the condition of those injured is "critical". According to AFP, fire service officials said that the fire first broke out around 9:50 PM on Thursday in a popular biryani restaurant in Dhaka's Bailey Road which quickly spread to the upper floors where there were more restaurants and a garment shop. The officials said that 75 people, including 42 in unconscious state, were taken out of the seven-storey building. 

"Thirty-three people died at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and 10 at (the nearby) Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery," Sen said, according to PTI. 

Sen, who is a burn specialist, said 22 people are being treated at both the health facilities and that their condition is “critical”. 

"The respiratory system of those who have survived so far has been seriously damaged," Sen told reporters at the DMCH. Meanwhile, doctors have indicated that some of the bodies were so extensively burned that identification was challenging, there are raising concerns that the death toll might increase.

Eyewitnesses and officials reported that in an attempt to flee the fire, many individuals hurried to the upper floors of the building. Firefighters deployed ladders to rescue several people from the higher levels. Some were trapped on the rooftop and called out for help.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control in two hours, as per AFP. 

The Bailey Road building houses mainly restaurants along with 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. We used a water pipe to climb down the building. Some of us were injured as they jumped from upstairs," a restaurant manager named Sohel told AFP.