A massive explosion rocked the Moghbazar area in Dhaka on Sunday evening, killing at least seven people and injuring at least 50 others.
It also caused massive damage to the establishments nearby.
The explosion took place near lifestyle retail chain Aarong's Moghbazar showroom and the Fire Service was informed at around 7:35pm, Md Babul, station officer at the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters, told Dhaka Tribune.
Locals rescue one of the people injured in the explosion at Moghbazar, Dhaka on Sunday, June 27, 2021 | Dhaka Tribune
Mahfuz Ribeng, duty officer at the Fire Service headquarters, said 14 units of firefighters had been sent to the spot and they were still working at the scene.
The cause of the explosion is still unknown.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Shafiqul Islam visited the spot shortly after the explosion.
Speaking to reporters at the scene, the DMP chief said they had confirmed seven deaths, so far.
Locals look on as firefighters search through the debris of the explosion on the ground floor of a building in Moghbazar, Dhaka on Sunday, June 27, 2021 | Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
"We also have information about at least 50 people being injured in the incident," he added.
The injured people have been taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, and other hospitals in the city, said police and Fire Service officials working at the scene.
Two of the deceased were identified at the national burn institute, reported our DMCH correspondent at 1am on Monday.
One of them was Mostafizur Rahman, 29, a native of Mymensingh, and the other was Abul Kashem.
Establishments damaged by the explosion include the nearby Aarong showroom, said a Dhaka Tribune photographer.
Firefigthers inspect the distorted remains of a passenger bus that was wrecked by a massive explosion in Moghbazar, Dhaka on Sunday, June 27, 2021 | Dhaka Tribune
“It shattered all the glass panels on the building of the Aarong showroom and another building named Bishal Centre close by, and the shards are all scattered on the road,” he said.
Other buildings were severely damaged by the explosion as well, witnesses said.
“The explosion might have occurred in either Shawarma House or Bengal Meat shop on the ground floor of the three-storey building… that is our primary suspicion,” Debashish Bardhan, deputy director (Dhaka zone) of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, told UNB.
The search-and-rescue operation is still on to be sure if there is anyone trapped in the building, he added.
The Fire Service formed a five-member committee to investigate the explosion, Duty Officer Mahfuz Ribeng told Dhaka Tribune at around 12:30am on Monday.
