Bangladesh fire death toll at 114, set to rise

DHAKA, (Reuters) – At least 114 people were killed  in a fire that razed a crowded, centuries-old Dhaka  neighbourhood overnight as rescue workers scrambled today  to pull bodies, many charred beyond recognition, from  smouldering debris.
The blaze, which broke out about 10.30 p.m., was the worst  to sweep through the Bangladeshi capital in almost four  decades.
“The confirmed death toll from the fire is now 114 and may  rise,” Muhibul Haque, district commissioner of Dhaka, told  Reuters. He said more than 40 people were being treated for  burns in hospital, with 12 in critical condition.
Fuelling the flames, which some witnesses said rose up to  six-storeys high, were chemicals from illegal, home-based  factories in the Kayettuli neighbourhood, one of the most  densely populated in Dhaka and in the heart of the city.
“It seemed like hell broke loose,” said a wailing woman,  looking for her daughter and son in what remained of the area,  home to several multi-storey blocks and tin-roofed dwellings.  Some had been turned into chemical factories despite a law  banning their presence in residential areas.
“Burning chemicals from stores within or beside the living  quarters spewed on the streets like lava from a volcano. There  was hardly any safe place to step out,” added one survivor.
Television channels put the death toll at up to 150,  including a dozen people who died in hospital.
The country’s police chief, Nur Mohammad, said it was  difficult to give an exact casualty toll until search and  rescue operations were finished, likely on Friday afternoon.
RESIDENTS TRAPPED IN BURNING BUILDINGS
Some families lost up to eight members, witnesses said, and  many residents were trapped trying to rush out of buildings.
“Flames leapt up to the sixth floor of buildings. It was a  huge inferno,” said a Reuters witness.
The blaze, believed to have been caused by an explosion at  a electrical transformer, was the worst in the capital since  1971, the fire brigade said.
“I never have had such a harrowing experience in my 40  years here,” said a doctor at the burns unit of the Dhaka  Medical College Hospital, as patients crammed the corridors and  sobbing relatives searched for loved ones.
Hospitals, strained by the high casualty toll, began  handing back corpses to relatives able to identify them. “Some  of the bodies lying in the morgue are charred beyond  identification,” one police officer said.
Firefighters said narrow streets and the density of the  buildings hampered access and the chemicals in the area helped  the fire spread quickly.
The government has ordered an investigation to determine  the exact cause of the fire.
Jahangir Kabir Nanak, State Minister for local government,  said the lack of proper fire escapes in many buildings  contributed to the high death toll. “We should have better  planned homes and wider roads to save lives,” he said.
The government declared tomorrow a day of mourning and said  it would pay 20,000 taka ($290) towards the cost of each  burial. “I have no words to console them,” said Home Minister  Sahara Khatun while visiting the hospital late yesterday.