Dhaka: At least 19 people were killed and more than 100 others injured on Tuesday in a powerful “earthquake-like” explosion at a seven-storey building in Bangladesh’s capital city, CNN reported.
The building is located in Siddique Bazar, a crowded marketplace in Old Dhaka.
A doctor at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) told news agency IANS that the hospital needs blood to treat the injured persons.
“The blast took place in the seven-storey building adjacent to a five-storey apartment that houses a branch of BRAC Bank. Several bank officials were injured by flying glass shards,” Abdur Rahim, a spokesman for the bank, was quoted as saying. The injured persons were soon evacuated to DMCH.
The blast ripped through the seven-storey building, shattering the first two floors, besides damaging a passenger bus standing on the opposite side of the busy road.
The structure houses several stores for sanitary products and household items. Eleven firefighting units are working on the spot to bring the situation under control, the report said.
Photos show firefighters and emergency responders carrying out search and rescue operations after dark. The damaged building has crumbling and missing walls; some units appear to have collapsed completely and debris covers the ground outside. The cause of the explosion could not be known immediately.
This was the third blast in a week to claim lives after explosions at an oxygen plant in Sitakunda and at another building on Mirpur Road in Dhaka.
