17 killed in Dhaka blast

Dhaka, March 7

At least 17 persons, including two women, were killed and over 100 others injured on Tuesday in a powerful “earthquake-like” explosion at a seven-storey building here in Bangladesh’s capital city, police and local residents said.

Eleven firefighting units, comprising 200 firemen, were mobilised at the spot after the blast, which occurred around 4:50 pm (local time) at Old Dhaka’s crowded Gulistan area, the fire service control room said in a statement.

“Sixteen bodies have been found (so far), but the toll could rise as the rescue operation is underway,” a fire service official told reporters. The cause of the explosion could not be known immediately, but local residents suspected chemicals illegally stored inside the building, mostly used as an office and business complex, might have sparked the blast.

“At first, I thought it was an earthquake. The entire Siddik Bazar area was shaken by the blast,” said eyewitness Safayet Hossain, a local shopkeeper, as per reports.

“I saw 20-25 people lying in front of a damaged building. They were seriously injured. They were crying out for help,” he said. He added that the locals were carrying the injured in vans and rickshaws to the hospital.