A 75-year-old woman has died in a fire in a building in the capital's Dhanmondi residential area.
The deceased has been identified as Munnujan Begum.
The fire at house 85/2, road 8/A in the capital's Dhanmondi area broke out around 1:30am on Sunday. The 12-story building sustained damage on every floor, firefighters said.
Many building residents, including the victim's family, went to the roof to see what was going on when the fire broke out. When they returned to the flat, they found that she had lost consciousness.
The fire likely occurred inside the building's concealed electrical wiring
Deputy Director (Dhaka) of the Fire Service and Civil Defence Mozammel Haque told the Dhaka Tribune that the victim was taken to Northern Hospital, where doctors declared her dead around 3:30am.
The cause of death was likely suffocation due to smoke inhalation, sources said.
Mozammel told the Dhaka Tribune that the exact origin of the fire had not yet been determined, but that it was likely due to a dark line electrical fire, meaning that it occurred inside the building's concealed electrical wiring.
He said the fire had raged “from top to bottom” along the building's electrical wiring.
It took six units of fire fighters three and a half hours to completely clear the building of fumes. The cost of the damage has not been determined by investigators.
