14 killed, over 100 injured as explosion rocks seven-storey building in Bangladesh's capital
Dhaka, Mar 7: At least 14 people were killed and over 100 others injured on Tuesday in a powerful explosion at a seven-storey building here in Bangladesh's capital, police said.
Eleven firefighting units have been mobilised at the spot after the blast, which occurred around 4:50 pm (local time) at Old Dhaka's crowded Gulistan area, the fire service control room said.
"Fourteen bodies have been found (so far) but the toll could rise as the rescue operation is underway," a fire service official told reporters.
The cause of the explosion could not be known immediately, but local residents suspected chemicals illegally stored inside the building, mostly used as an office and business complex, might have sparked the blast.
"At first, I thought it was an earthquake. The entire Siddik Bazar area was shaken by the blast," eyewitness Safayet Hossain, a local shopkeeper, told The Daily Star newspaper.
"I saw 20-25 people lying in the road in front of a damaged building. They were seriously injured and bleeding. They were crying out for help. Some people were running around in panic," he said.
He added that the locals were carrying the injured in vans and rickshaws to the hospital.
Alamgir, who was close to the blast site, said, "After the loud noise, people quickly came out of the building. There was panic on everyone's faces. The glass of the building's windows shattered and fell onto the street. Many pedestrians on the street were injured."
The Rapid Action Battalion's bomb disposal unit was rushed to the spot to inspect the buildings.
Dozens of injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said DMCH police outpost j+spector Bacchu Miah. He added that all of them were receiving treatment at the hospital's emergency unit.
The building has several stores for sanitary products on the bottom floor and a branch of BRAC Bank was located in the building adjacent to it.
The blast shattered the glass walls of the bank and also damaged a bus standing on the opposite side of the road, reports said.
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Suvendu Adhikari says Bangladesh should be taught a “lesson like Israel taught Gaza”
Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has sparked controversy after stating that Bangladesh should be taught a “lesson like Israel has taught Gaza.”
Adhikari made the remark while speaking to reporters outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata on Friday, December 26. “These people must be taught a lesson, just like Israel taught Gaza. Our 100 crore Hindus and the government working in the interest of Hindus must teach them a lesson just as we taught Pakistan a lesson in Operation Sindoor,” he said.
The statement came amid protests being held outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission since December 22, following the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das, a 27-year-old garment factory worker in Bangladesh. Das was killed on December 18 in the Mymensingh district, where his body was allegedly hung from a tree and set on fire in public view.
Adhikari was part of a five-member delegation that met senior officials of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission on Friday. Speaking after the meeting, he claimed that the diplomats had “no answer to most of his questions” related to the killing and the situation of minorities in Bangladesh.
Reacting to his comments, the All India Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of promoting hate and intolerance. In a post on X, the party described Adhikari’s remarks as hate speech and alleged that they amounted to a call for violence, while also questioning the absence of legal action against him.
Adhikari’s statement has added to political tensions in West Bengal and raised concerns over inflammatory rhetoric linked to sensitive international and communal issues.
The @BJP4India’s Bengal ‘face’ wants a Gaza like operation against Bangladesh. Dog whistles that the @narendramodi government is for ‘Hindus’ only. Do you concur with this @narendramodi @DrSJaishankar ? Dirty politics of Divide and Rule won’t work in Bengal, @SuvenduWB pic.twitter.com/vLWm9b3AXb
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) December 27, 2025
