Bangladesh: Explosion kills at least 11

At least eleven people have been killed and scores more injured following an explosion in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, police said.

The explosion occurred in a commercial building in Gulistan, a busy commercial area in Dhaka.

According to fire department official Rashid bin Khaled details of the cause of the explosion remain scarce and could not be immediately determined.

Fatal building fires and explosions are not uncommon in Bangladesh, where enforcement of safety regulations is often lacking.

What do we know about the explosion?

The explosion shook the fourth and the fifth floor of the building, causing damage to two neighboring buildings. No fire broke out though.

More than 150 firefighters from 11 different fire teams were at the scene to help in rescue efforts, a fire services spokesperson said.

According to police inspector Bacchu Mia, at least 40 people were injured and hospitalized, 11 of whom had died.

"Two of the dead are women," he said, adding, "the rest are injured and being treated."

A man in a bloody shirt told reporters that he had been caught up in the blast, which had shattered windows and damaged a wall of the building.

"There were people lying on the floor. I escaped by climbing out from the window," he said.

A history of relaxed safety regulations 

The country has a history of industrial disasters including factories catching fire with workers trapped inside. Observers have blamed reluctant safety enforcement and corruption for the recurring disasters.

In 2012, about 117 workers died when they were trapped in a garment factory behind closed doors in Dhaka. The following year, the Rana Plaza garment factory outside Dhaka collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people the worst industrial disaster in the country.

In 2019 an inferno burnt an area in Old Dhaka, claiming 67 lives. Another fire in the same area killed at least 123 in an illegal chemicals warehouse.

In 2021, another blaze killed at least 52 people at a food and beverage factory, many of whom were trapped inside by an illegally locked door.

An explosion at an oxygen plant near the southern port city of Chittagong on Saturday killed three people.

dmn/ar (AFP, Reuters)