Death toll from Chawkbazar building fire rises to 6

Ten firefighting units tamed the flames at a building that houses a plastics factory and a restaurant

Firefighters have recovered six bodies from the debris after a fire swept through a building that houses a plastics factory and a restaurant in Old Dhaka's Chawkbazar.

The incident in Kamalbagh was reported around 12 pm on Monday, said Md Shahjahan Sikder, assistant director of the fire service.

Ten firefighting units doused the flames after a two-hour effort. The responders were later seen carrying the bodies out of the building's fifth floor.

"We found six bodies inside the building," said Anwarul Islam, a fire service official.

Rows of plastic factories and warehouses of plastic goods line the narrow alleys of Chawkbazar’s Kamalbagh area.

According to locals, a restaurant occupied the ground floor of the four-storey building, while a factory and storage for plastic toys and polythene were on the upper floors.

The authorities are looking into the cause of the fire and the extent of the resulting damage.