No less than 19 individuals have been killed and 140 injured in an explosion inside an workplace constructing within the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, police and fireplace service officers have stated.
In accordance with worldwide media experiences, the explosion shook the fourth and fifth flooring of a five-storey constructing in Gulistan, a significant hub for wholesale items within the capital, shortly earlier than 5pm native time (11:00 GMT) on Tuesday.
Authorities couldn’t instantly present the explanation behind the large explosion within the bustling business space.
“No less than 19 individuals have died, together with two ladies,” police inspector Bacchu Mia informed reporters.
Mia stated greater than 140 had been dropped at the Dhaka Medical Faculty Hospital (DMCH).
Greater than 112 individuals have been handled for head wounds, fractures and different accidents at DMCH, hospital director Nazmul Islam informed newsmen.
“The sample of the accidents exhibits that it was an enormous explosion,” he stated, including that tons of of medical doctors and nurses have been mobilised.
He stated some injured individuals have been additionally despatched to different hospitals within the metropolis.
No fireplace broke out within the constructing however greater than 150 firefighters have been on the web site to help in rescue efforts, a fireplace providers spokesperson stated.
A middle-aged man in a blood-soaked shirt informed reporters he had been injured within the blast, which shattered home windows and broken a wall of the constructing.
“There have been individuals mendacity on the ground. I escaped by climbing out from the window,” he stated.
Despite the fact that rescuers received to the scene inside seven minutes of the blast, the extent of the harm has hampered their efforts to achieve individuals who should still be caught inside, in line with Fireplace Division Chief Brigadier Common Essential Uddin.
“It’s dangerous to enter the constructing now,” he stated. “We wanted reinforcements for columns and beams to proceed rescue (efforts) on the bottom ground and the underground,” Uddin stated.
“There may be nonetheless the potential of individuals caught contained in the constructing,” he stated.
He added that there was no fuel line underneath the constructing and no signal of explosives.
“We’re looking for the explanation (for the blast),” he stated.
Bangladesh has a historical past of business disasters, together with factories catching fireplace with employees trapped inside. Monitoring teams have blamed corruption and lax enforcement.
In 2012, about 117 employees died after they have been trapped behind locked exits in a garment manufacturing facility in Dhaka.
The nation’s worst industrial catastrophe occurred the next yr, when the Rana Plaza garment manufacturing facility exterior Dhaka collapsed, killing greater than 1,100 individuals.
In 2019, a blaze ripped via a 400-year-old space cramped with residences, outlets and warehouses within the oldest a part of Dhaka and killed a minimum of 67 individuals. One other fireplace in Outdated Dhaka in a home illegally storing chemical compounds killed a minimum of 123 individuals in 2010.
In 2021, a fireplace at a meals and beverage manufacturing facility exterior Dhaka killed a minimum of 52 individuals, lots of whom have been trapped inside by an illegally locked door.
Final yr, a fireplace at a delivery container storage depot close to the nation’s essential Chittagong Seaport killed a minimum of 41 individuals, together with 9 firefighters, and injured greater than 100 others.