1 dead, 44 hurt in Bagerhat building fire

A woman died and 44 others were injured as a fire broke out in the five-storey Maisha Plaza in Bagerhat's Chitalmari upazila yesterday.

The deceased, Anita Roy, 40, a house help, died from smoke inhalation. The body has been kept at a hospital, said Shahadat Hossain, officer-in-charge of Chitalmari Police Station. 

The fire started on the ground floor around 8:30am and spread rapidly.

Md Abu Bakkar Zaman, assistant director of fire service in Khulna, said eight firefighting units from Chitalmari, Bagerhat, Gopalganj, and Khulna brought the fire under control around noon.

The fire likely originated from an electric short circuit in a showroom on the ground floor, he added.

Of the injured, four were in critical condition and transferred to Khulna Medical College Hospital, while the rest received treatment at Chitalmari Upazila Health Complex, said Dr Mukti Biswas, resident medical officer of the health complex.

The building, owned by a Brunei expatriate, housed showrooms on ground and first floors, branches of several banks and an insurance company on second floor, a clinic on third, and residential flats on upper floors.

Ahmed Kamrul Hasan, deputy commissioner of Bagerhat, visited the spot.