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87 burnt alive in blaze

Death toll may rise; 150 hurt; 8 houses, 20 shops gutted in city's Nimtoli; source of fire unknown

Shaheen Mollah with Kailash Sarkar and Shariful Islam
At least 87 people, mostly women and children, were burned alive and scores more wounded in a blaze in the densely-populated Old Dhaka last night.
The death toll may rise sharply, as rescuers early today were pulling out bodies horn eight houses and 20 shops that had been reduced to ashes by the fire, the biggest in recent years.
The devastation was so severe that charred bodies, many of them beyond recognition, were seen lying everywhere--in alleyways, in front of shops, in staircases and in rooms.
The cause of the fire could not be known for certain.
Some witnesses said explosion of two transformers at Nawab Katra of Nimtoli started the fire around 8:45pm, while others said it all began at a bakery and then spread to the transformers.
Witnesses said they heard a huge bang and saw flames swallowing the houses and shops adjacent to the transformers in no time.
The fireball leapt up to around 200 feet and then rained down on
the houses. The glow of the fire could be seen from parts of the capital far away.
“With power supply snapped, it looked like a hell on earth. All I could hear were shrill cries coming out from every direction," said Rahima Begum, who was feeding her child when the fire broke out.
“I don't know how other members of my family and I rushed out of our fourth-floor flat," she added.
Shahidul Haque Pintu, another witness, said soon after the fire began, the gas lines started breaking apart. “I ran to safety and came back around an hour back only to see bodies here and there.”
It was raining when the fire broke out and most people were indoors. This resulted in high casualty figures, locals said.
Hundreds of locals risking their lives joined the rescue operations. They fought the fire with whatever they could find near, recovered bodies and rescued the wounded. Initially high temperature, smoke and darkness made rescue operation almost impossible.
Within an hour and a half since the fire started, around 150 people were rushed to the DMCH. Some of them succumbed to their injuries on the way and after reaching the hospital.
DMP Commissioner AKM Shohidul Haque told reporters around 3:15am that they have so for counted 87 bodies.
After the fire was doused, fire fighters and locals started pouring in corpses wrapped in clothes from shops and houses. Some charred beyond recognition, some dead due to smoke inhalation.
They placed them on the road.
They said most of the bodies were found trapped inside rooms. They said a lot of people died in the six- storey building of Gulzar Khan. An engagement party was going on the third floor of the building when the fire broke out.
Soon the air filled with grief as hundreds of people were trying to identify their near and dear ones. Many who could identify bodies burst into tears while some bodies were too charred foridentification.
Some were seen too shocked to speak, let alone cry. Some families lost three to seven members.
Even though the fire was less than a kilometre away from the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters, it took firemen more than an hour to get there, locals alleged.
They said had the fire fighters reached the spot sooner, the casualty figure would have been significantly smaller.
Deputy Director of Fire Brigade and Civil Defence Abdur Rashid said they rushed to the spot as soon as they received the news but narrow roads and alleys slowed down theirprogress.
He said they lost some time trying to figure out how to attack the fire since it was so huge and so spread out.
Eighteen fire engines brought the blaze under control after an effort of an hour and a half, he said.
Rapid Action Battalion, the army and police also rushed to the spot and helped in the rescue operations.
Abdur Rashid said the fire was this devastating since there were chemical warehouses nearby.
The firemen were poorly equipped for such a massive blaze. Most of them only had torches and light of their mobile phones to search for bodies and survivors, locals said.
Witness Billal Hossain, who was around 150 yards away from a transformer, said the transformer exploded and sent fireballs in three alleys. It also sent a mushroom of fire upward that came down spreading the fire in nearby buildings, he said.
Some locals said the gas pipeline exploded as well.