At least five people died after Bashundhara City, Bangladesh’s largest shopping mall, turned into a towering inferno in the heart of the capital on Friday with fire engulfing the corporate offices on the upper floors. Bashundhara Group security officer Baki Billah died of critical burn injuries at 4:30pm at the nearby Samarita Hospital, said hospital spokesperson Pradip Kumar Bhowmik. Two other Basundhara firemen and a lift operator died. Tejgaon zone deputy police commissioner Mahbubur Rahman told to BD NEWS24 at 10:50pm that their bodied were found on the 17th floor. The officer, who could not give the names immediately, said more bodies were likely to be found. Another charred body was found on the 17th floor later, Fire Brigade director Sheikh Md Shah Jalal told BD NEWS24 at 11:35pm. He could not name the dead. Another seventeen injured were taken to Dhaka Combined Military Hospital. The blaze that started around 1:30pm had died down toward late evening after firemen spent over five hours fighting raging flames that spread up and down the top floors of the 20-storied building, trapping many inside. BD NEWS24 correspondents saw the fire still being battled in places at 8:40pm, but the country’s chief fire fighter said the blaze was brought under control at around 9pm. Fire Brigade chief Abu Nayeem Mohammed Shahidullah told reporters five floors from the 15th to 19th were completely and the 14th was partially burned down by the inferno. Bashundhara Group executive …
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