At least four people were killed and 23 were injured, including fire service officials, in a fire that broke out at a chemical warehouse in Old Dhaka's Armtola.
The fire started at the ground floor of a six-storey building named Haji Musa Mansion at 3:18 am (local time) on Friday, Dhaka Tribune quoted Mahfuz Riben, duty officer at the control room of Fire Service and Civil Defence, as saying.
"Various sorts of chemical substances were stored at the ground floor," he said.
He further stated that nineteen firefighting units brought the blaze under control at 6:08 am (local time).
A total of 21 people were rescued alive from the building. Among them, four sustained burn injuries while others fell sick due to excessive smoke.
The injured were taken to Mitford Hospital at first and later transferred to Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute, reported Dhaka Tribune.
Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute Resident Physician Dr Partho Shankar Pal said one of the injured was released after giving primary treatment.
The four burn victims sustained highest 35 per cent burn injuries and receiving treatment at the ICU unit. The rest of the injured were kept in the post-operative ward as they sustained damage to their respiratory system, Dr Partho said.
According to Dhaka Tribune, Old Dhaka remains a ticking time bomb during fires because of illegal chemical warehouses, unplanned building construction, narrow roads and high population density.
It further reported that, In February 2019, a devastating fire at Wahed Mansion in the Churihatta area of Chawkbazar claimed 71 lives. In June 2010, a deadly fire in Nimtoli took 124 lives.
( With inputs from ANI )
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