Wedding party among those charred in the fire that raced through several buildings

Midnight blaze kills 88 in Dhaka

Wedding party among those charred in the fire that raced through several buildings

Lives charred: Relatives mourn at the site of the fire. Pic/AFP

Twenty fire service units have managed to extinguish the blaze.

"We have now recovered at least 88 dead bodies. The bodies have been sent to various hospitals in the capital," said Dhaka Police Chief A K M Shahidul Haq.

He added that the fire raged for three hours before it could be extinguished by firefighters.

"We are searching every inch of the building, which may take hours," said Abu Nayeem, the fire department chief.

He added that a wedding party was being held in one of the buildings and "we think this is why the number of casualties is so high."

Nayeem added that highly flammable chemicals in a number of small shops had fuelled the flame.

"It appears hell has come down here. We see the rescuers are retrieving burnt bodies one after another from the ruptured structures using search lights for want of electricity," an eyewitness said.

An explosion in an electric transformer apparently sparked the blaze at around 10 pm and it quickly engulfed a small plastic factory and four other multi-storied buildings and adjacent shops sending the flames some 300 feet into the sky, a fire brigade official said.

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina has expressed her deep shock over the tragedy. She has asked the concerned government agencies to expedite a rescue campaign and provide proper treatment to the injured. Dhaka Mayor Sadek Hossain, Health Minister Ruhal Haque and several government leaders were overseeing the rescue operations and the hospital arrangements.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels