At least 15 people were killed on Tuesday and around 100 others injured after an explosion at an office building in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, hospital sources said.
The blast hit the fourth and fifth floors of a seven-storey building in the bustling commercial district of Gulistan shortly before 5 p.m. local time (1100 GMT).
“At least 15 people have died, including two women,” Nazmul Islam, director of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, told AFP. More than 100 people have been taken to the hospital for treatment after head injuries or broken bones, he added.
No fires broke out in the building, but more than 150 firefighters went to the scene of the explosion to help with rescue operations, a fire department spokesman said.
A man in a blood-soaked shirt said he was injured in the blast, which shattered windows and damaged a building wall.
“There were people lying on the ground. I managed to get out through a window,” he explained.
The cause of the explosion remains to be determined, but fatal fires and explosions in buildings are common in Bangladesh, where safety regulations are often too lax.
Another explosion at an oxygen plant near the southern port city of Chittagong killed three people on Saturday.