Rescuers have called off the search for survivors of one of Bangladesh's worst fires - a blaze in a crowded row of buildings in Dhaka - as the death toll rose to 108.
The fire raged for three hours, destroying a row of multi-storey apartment buildings and trapping hundreds of residents in Dhaka's densely populated Kayettuli area, said city police chief AKM Shahidul Haq.
"At least 108 people have died including those who expired in hospitals. The toll may rise as quite a few are in critical condition," district administrator Muhibul Haque said.
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The blaze has been put out and a search-and-rescue effort halted after firefighters scoured "every inch of the fire-hit buildings," said Dhaka fire department chief Abu Nayeem.
"A wedding party was on the roof of one building and we think this is why the number of casualties is so high," Nayeem said, adding that highly flammable stock, including chemicals, in a string of small shops had fuelled the blaze.
Wedding party
"At least 41 bodies have been pulled out from the wedding party building," he said.
One witness said the bride was spared from the fire as she was at the local beauty salon when it broke out.
Hundreds of people were trapped in burning buildings for hours as rescue workers struggled to contain the blaze, their work hampered by the narrow lanes of the crowded residential area.
Nayeem said the fire had been caused by an electrical fault and took grip before firefighters could access the area.
"At the same time, cooking for the wedding feast was going on at the ground floor staircase of the wedding party building, which fuelled the flames," he added.
"People joining the wedding party were trapped in the building and suffocated or burnt as they could not come out because the cooking spread the fire through the staircase."
At least seven buildings were engulfed, Nayeem said.
Electrical fault
"The temperature and fumes became unbearable because of the chemicals," he said, adding that a bakery with several large gas burners and a string of small shops selling cheap, flammable plastic goods had also caught fire.
"We struggled to get inside due to the narrow stairways of the very old buildings, it is almost impossible for us to get firefighting equipment into the area," he said.
All off-duty medical personnel were called in to Dhaka Medical College, whose hospital was overwhelmed by the rush of victims, said Shahidul Bari, a specialist at the burns unit.
He said 12 bodies had been received at the morgue soon after the fire began. Another 100 people had been admitted with severe burns and smoke inhalation.
"Our unit is full and more patients are pouring in. It's a disaster of huge proportions," Bari said.
"Patients are being treated in the corridors and still more are coming in. We are sending the most critically ill to the hospital's emergency units," he said.
Fires due to short-circuits, substandard wiring and electrical faults are common in Bangladesh, where building regulations are rarely enforced.
