Dhaka: Explosion inside five-storey building kills at least 15, over 100 injured

At least 15 people have died and over 100 injured in an explosion which occurred inside a five-storey building in Bangladesh’s capital city Dhaka on Tuesday.

Multiple fire tenders and a bomb-disposal squad was deployed in the area after the blast which took place in the building near the BRTC bus counter in the Gulistan area of old Dhaka. 

The building, located in the busy Siddique Bazaar, was a commercial building with several offices and stores.

The blast reportedly took place in a store selling sanitation materials on the ground floor of the seven-storey building.

The incident reportedly took place around 5 pm. The blast also damaged a bus which was parked on the opposite side of the road, according to reports. 

Multiple videos and pictures of the devastating incident are doing the rounds on social media. 

The cause of the blast remains unclear and the death toll is expected to rise further. 

The injured were rushed to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital where they are being treated in the emergency unit, police inspector Bacchu Miah said.

“Two of the dead are women. The rest are injured and being treated,” Bacchu Mia said while a fire services spokesperson said that no fire broke out in the building.