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Death toll in Bangladesh fire climbs to 25

By Clyde Hughes

March 29 (UPI) -- Twenty-five people are now dead after a high-rise caught fire Thursday in Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka -- up from a previous death toll of 19 fatalities.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Mostaq Ahmad said Friday that 25 bodies have been recovered from the FR Tower, which caught fire Thursday afternoon in the middle of the workday. He said all but one have been turned over to family members.

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Investigators continued to investigate the cause of the fire in the 22-story building, from which some people jumped to escape the flames.

Fire officials learned that many people could not escape the building because emergency {link:exits were locked.

"We found many emergency exit points of the FR Tower were just eyewash," Saleh Uddin, assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, told The Daily Star. "No demonstration on how to use emergency exit points of the building was held ever, and those were kept locked on different floors. As a result, the trapped people could not come out of the building using the emergency exits."

S.M. Rezaul Karim, Bangladesh's housing minister, said the owners of the building illegally added floors to the building and made other violations.

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"The deaths are not accidents, they are murders," Karim said after inspecting the building. "We have learned that the building received initial approval in 1996 for 18 floors. However, another copy was submitted in 2005, revealing that the building has 23 floors. The owner of that building violated the approved blueprint during construction.

"We are trying to track down the then-chairman and Rajuk officials concerned. Legal action will be taken against anyone found involved in irregularities. Other buildings throughout Dhaka will soon be scrutinized," Karim added.

M.D. Tajul Islam, the local government, rural development and cooperatives minister, said many of the floors inside the building "remain vulnerable" and their search for a cause is ongoing.

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