Dhaka, March 7 (EFE) – At least 15 people died and 39 others were injured in an explosion at a commercial building in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka on Tuesday, officials said.
“We have received 15 bodies so far. They included the bodies of two women. They were all brought dead here,” Bacchu Mia, the in-charge of the police outpost at Dhaka Medical College, told EFE.
Mia said so far 39 injured people have been taken to the hospital for treatment, five to six of them in critical condition.
A Fire Service personnel, who did not identify himself, said the explosion occurred around 4.50 pm in Gulistan area of downtown Dhaka, but did not provide further details.
The cause of the explosion remains unknown.
“We are investigating all angles,” Hayatul Islam Khan, a senior official of Dhaka Metropolitan police, told EFE.
Shariat Rumi, who was near the incident site when the explosion occurred, said he heard the sound of a huge blast from the seven-storied commercial building in the crowded area while traveling in an auto-rickshaw.
“It took me a while to realize what had happened. After a huge sound we saw smoke coming out of the building,” he said.
“We got stuck in traffic. Within a few seconds I heard people screaming for help and the injured being taken out,” Rumi further said.
According to local media reports, the total number of injured could exceed 100, and that people were queuing up at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital to donate blood.
Eyewitnesses told local television channels that some of the injured were passersby.
The explosion comes just two days after another blast in the capital in which three people were killed and over 40 were injured.
Earlier on Saturday, an explosion at an oxygen plant in Chittagong, the country’s second largest city, left at least seven people dead.
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