The death toll from the fire at a chemical warehouse in Chawkbazar area of Old Dhaka jumps to 69 this morning, said Fire Service and Civil Defence.
Scores were also injured as a fire ripped through the building last night. Of them, 41 were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, according to the latest update from the control room of the fire service.
The death toll is feared to rise, it said.
The fire broke out around 10:40pm at a chemical warehouse on the ground floor of the five-storey building named Hazi Wahed Mansion. The flames then quickly spread through three other buildings nearby, including a community centre, said Ali Ahmed, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence.
Thirty-seven units of firefighters from 13 fire stations brought the fire under control around 3:00am.
The origin of the fire could not be known immediately.
The incident brings to mind the Nimtoli fire that killed 123 in 2010. It had sparked a public outcry, demanding the relocation of chemical warehouses and stores from the area, but little has been done in the last nine years.
mj/
