Deadly Bangladesh fire shows lapses in development
Charred buildings and vehicles are all that remain of sections of a centuries-old shopping district in Bangladesh’s capital, where a late-night fire raced through narrow alleys packed with residences, shops, restaurants and warehouses and killed dozens of people.
As the flames lit up the night, firefighters frantically doused the buildings in Dhaka’s Chawkbazar area with water.
Once morning broke and the blaze was under control, the search for the dead began.
At least 70 bodies had been recovered by Thursday afternoon and it was feared the death toll would rise as some of those injured in the fire were in critical condition.
Bangladeshis carry coffins of relatives out from a morgue after they were killed in a fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
An unidentified Bangladeshi laments following a fire that broke out late Wednesday in closely set buildings in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Rehman Asad)
Flames rise from a fire in a densely packed shopping area in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Zabed Hasnain Chowdhury)
Firefighters work to douse flames in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Zabed Hasnain Chowdhury)
Locals and firefighters gather around buildings that caught fire late Wednesday in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Rehman Asad)
A woman displays a photograph of a relative who died in a fire, outside a morgue in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
A Bangladeshi woman mourns the death of a relative in a fire, outside a morgue in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Rehman Asad)
Locals help a Bangladeshi firefighter who lost consciousness briefly while trying to douse flames of a smoldering fire in a building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Zabed Hasnain Chowdhury)
The wrangled and charred remains of rickshaws lie at the site of a late Wednesday night fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu )
An unidentified Bangladeshi cries by the site of a fire that broke out late Wednesday in closely set buildings in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Rehman Asad)
Firefighters gather around buildings that caught fire late Wednesday night in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Bangladeshi women mourn as they wait outside a morgue in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Rescuers stand at the site of a late Wednesday night fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Text from AP news story, Historic Bangladesh district razed by deadly fire .