- AP Photo/Abdul Goni
VIVA – A deadly explosion happened in a seven-story commercial building in the capital of Bangladesh on Tuesday. This disaster killed at least 17 people and hundreds of injuries.
According to a firefighter, Rashed bin Khaled, the explosion occurred in the Gulistan area, a busy commercial area in Dhaka. The building that exploded contained several shops selling plumbing products and household goods.
“The first two floors were badly damaged,” the firefighter stated as reported from the AP site.
So far, it wasn’t immediately clear what caused the explosion, but some reports said the explosion happened from accumulated gas. Moreover, Khaled stated at least 11 fire department teams were working at the scene of the explosion.
Petugas mengevakuasi korban ledakan di sebuah gedung, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Selasa
- AP Photo/Abdul Goni
Local media reported at least 100 people were injured in the blast. The United News of Bangladesh agency reported that people on the upper floors were trapped for hours after the explosion.
Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Main Uddin, director general of the Fire Service and Civil Defense, said they could not enter the ground floor and they had no clear data if anybody was trapped.
“It was not possible to get to the ground floor as the building became very risky because the columns that hold up the building had collapsed.” He remarked.
He added that they would take help from the military after the search and rescue operation began on Wednesday morning.
Bangladesh has a history of fires and industrial disasters, including factories catching fire with workers trapped inside. Monitoring groups have blamed corruption and lax enforcement.
