FIRE AT MALL IN BANGLADESH'S CAPITAL KILLS AT LEAST 46 PEOPLE

The building had permission for office use, not restaurants and eateries, according to Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha Rajuk). But the building housed eight restaurants, a juice bar and a tea and coffee shop, the report said.

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A massive fire that ripped through a seven-storey shopping mall in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka that also housed several illegal eateries killed at least 46 people and injured 22 others, the government said on Friday, in one of the worst infernos to hit the country in recent years.

The fire broke out around 9:50 pm on Thursday at a popular restaurant named “Kacchi Bhai” on the first floor of the building, Green Cozy Cottage, and quickly spread to the upper floors that had more restaurants and a garment shop, according to fire service officials.

Health Minister Dr Samanta Lal Sen said around 2 am that 33 bodies were brought to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and 10 others to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery. Another victim died at the Police Hospital.

The condition of those injured is “critical”, he told reporters at a briefing.

“One more person died during treatment in the intensive care unit of Dhaka Medical ICU this morning. A total of 46 people have died so far,” Sen said on Friday.