Bangladesh fire kills more than 120 people

[Hannah Bell]

At least 120 people were killed in a fire that razed housing apartments in an old section of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, on Thursday night. It is the worst fire tragedy in Dhaka since independence in 1971. With numbers of bodies still to be recovered and scores of people critically injured, the final death toll will be higher. While the blaze was severe, the city’s decaying infrastructure and the poor emergency services contributed to the heavy loss of life.

The fire started around 10.30 p.m. and raged for around three hours in the densely populated Kayettuli neighbourhood, in the heart of the city. The immediate area consisted of several multi-storey apartment buildings and tin-roofed dwellings. At least 15 of the victims were attending a wedding on the roof of one of the buildings.

Fire officials indicated that an electrical transformer explosion triggered the fire, but the cause of the fire is yet to be definitely established. Seven buildings were engulfed, including a bakery that had several large gas burners. A line of small shops containing flammable chemicals and plastic goods on the ground floor of an apartment building also caught fire...According to witnesses, flames rose up to 76 metres in the air...

Many of those who died were trapped by the lack of fire escapes. Regardless of the risk to their own lives, hundreds of local people tried to fight the fire, rescue the wounded and rush the victims to hospitals, many in three-wheeled rickshaws...This is the second disaster caused by poor construction and lack of safety enforcement in the capital within 72 hours...With 13 million people, Dhaka is one of the most populated cities in the world, but has only rudimentary emergency services.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jun2010/bngl-j05.shtml