3 killed, 9 injured in 2 separate fire incidents in Bangladesh capital

Three people, including two woman were killed and at least nine others were severely injured in two separate incidents of fire in old part of Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Saturday evening.

Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, a senior Dhaka Metropolitan Police official, told journalists that three charred bodies were found at the corner of stair after several fire tenders doused the flames at a plastic warehouse at Islambagh, one of the congested areas in old Dhaka.

Fire Service Control Room official Mizanur Rahman told journalists that the fire broke out at the plastic factory on the ground floor of the house at around 6:00 p.m. local time.

Altogether 12 fire tenders reached the spot. After struggling for about two hours, the firefighters doused the flames that spread to adjacent homes also reportedly housing some plastic recycling and other factories and warehouses.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

In a separate fire incident also in the old part of capital Dhaka, nine people suffered serious burns after a restaurant gas cylinder exploded on Saturday evening.

An old Dhaka police official who did not like to be named said blast occurred at the restaurant at about 4:25 p.m. local time, leaving nine people burnt.

All the wounded were rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, he said.

Partha Shankar Pal, resident surgeon of the Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute of the hospital, said all the victims remained in critical condition.

Rahman said the cylinder blast also triggered a huge fire. The cause of the blasts was not known immediately.

Several units of firefighters reportedly managed to douse the fire in the restaurant in one of the most congested areas in old part of the city which suffered Bangladesh's worst fire tragedy in 2010.

At least 120 people were killed on June 3, 2010 in a devastating blaze that razed the narrow alleys of the old section of Dhaka, crammed with new additions to decades-old buildings.

source: Xinhua