At least 43 people died Thursday evening in a terrible fire in a shopping center in Dakha, the capital of Bangladesh. Dozens of people were also injured.
A fire in a shopping center in the Bangladeshi capital killed at least 43 people overnight from Thursday to Friday and injured dozens more, with several people fleeing to the roof of the building, officials said Friday.
The fire broke out at a restaurant on the first floor of Green Cozy Cottage shopping mall in downtown Dhaka.
Firefighters rescued survivors and extricated bodies, and as of Friday morning, at least 43 people were dead. Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen said the toll could
increase since at least 18 seriously injured people were being treated in two public hospitals.
Thirty-eight victims have been identified and 26 of the bodies have been handed over to their families, said Bacchu Mia, head of a police outpost at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
“During the night, many families waited here for their loved ones. It is a heartbreaking scene as they desperately searched for their family members who died in the tragedy,” the official said.
A fire crew entered the charred building in the morning to see if there were any other bodies, and forensic experts began searching for evidence as part of the fire investigation. The cause of the fire has not been determined.
