Dhaka: As many as 70 people, including women and children, were killed and 40 injured in a massive fire that tore through apartment buildings and chemical warehouses in the old part of Bangladesh capital Dhaka, officials said.
Relatives of victims mourn after a fire tore through apartment blocks in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on February 21, 2019. – At least 70 people were killed when fire tore through crumbling apartment blocks in a historic part of Dhaka, setting off a chain of explosions and a wall of flames down nearby streets, officials said on February 21. It started in one building where chemicals for deodorants and other household uses were illegally stored and spread at lightning speed to four nearby buildings, the fire service said. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
Firefighters are seen at the scene of a fire in Dhaka on February 21, 2019. – At least 69 people have died in a huge blaze that tore through apartment buildings also used as chemical warehouses in an old part of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, fire officials said on February 21, 2019. (Photo by Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
Relatives of victims mourn after a fire tore through apartment blocks in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on February 21, 2019. – At least 70 people were killed when fire tore through crumbling apartment blocks in a historic part of Dhaka, setting off a chain of explosions and a wall of flames down nearby streets, officials said on February 21. It started in one building where chemicals for deodorants and other household uses were illegally stored and spread at lightning speed to four nearby buildings, the fire service said. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire in Dhaka on February 21, 2019. – At least 69 people have died in a huge blaze that tore through apartment buildings also used as chemical warehouses in an old part of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, fire officials said on February 21. (Photo by Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
Relatives carry out coffins of fire victims from a hospital after a fire tore through apartment blocks in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on February 21, 2019. – At least 70 people were killed when fire tore through crumbling apartment blocks in a historic part of Dhaka, setting off a chain of explosions and a wall of flames down nearby streets, officials said on February 21. It started in one building where chemicals for deodorants and other household uses were illegally stored and spread at lightning speed to four nearby buildings, the fire service said. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
Relatives of victims mourn after a fire tore through apartment blocks in Bangladesh’s Dhaka on February 21, 2019. – At least 70 people were killed when fire tore through crumbling apartment blocks in a historic part of Dhaka, setting off a chain of explosions and a wall of flames down nearby streets, officials said on February 21. It started in one building where chemicals for deodorants and other household uses were illegally stored and spread at lightning speed to four nearby buildings, the fire service said. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
Relatives of victims mourn after a fire tore through apartment blocks in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on February 21, 2019. – At least 70 people were killed when fire tore through crumbling apartment blocks in a historic part of Dhaka, setting off a chain of explosions and a wall of flames down nearby streets, officials said on February 21. It started in one building where chemicals for deodorants and other household uses were illegally stored and spread at lightning speed to four nearby buildings, the fire service said. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
“At least 70 people have died in the incident,” said the Bangladesh capital’s fire service spokesman Kamrul Hasan.
