At least six persons died in a fire at a plastic factory in old Dhaka's Chawkbazar area that originated this noon.

Building of two temporary sheds to store chemicals from Old Dhaka is facing delays as approval from the planning commission and opinions of experts are required, a top official of industries ministry has said.

After the tragic Chawkbazar inferno in Old Dhaka, I have been thinking about what it would take to bring some urban sanity to a complex megacity like Dhaka.

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has identified the bodies of five more victims of Chawkbazar fire tragedy through DNA tests.

A home ministry probe body formed after the Chawkbazar fire concluded that the flames originated from the first floor of Wahed Mansion.

Three youths suffered burns as a fire broke out at a scrap-metal shop in Old Dhaka's Chawkbazar area yesterday afternoon, 10 days after an inferno in the same area that left scores dead.

Old Dhaka is so prone to fire disasters that last year it saw at least one fire incident a day on average.

Another victim of the Chawkbazar fire loses the battle for life at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, raising the death toll in the tragedy to 70.

It seems nothing has changed in West Shaheednagar area of Old Dhaka.

The industries ministry will start relocating nearly 4,000 chemical warehouses and factories from Old Dhaka within the next 15 days as it selected two temporary sites in the capital and Tongi for this purpose.

Expressing dissatisfaction at the authorities' failure to implement the government probe committee's 17 recommendations over the 2010 Nimtoli fire, the High Court yesterday questioned their inaction.

To prevent any further fire-related human catastrophe like what occurred in Chawkbazar, officials and experts have suggested immediate temporary relocation of highly combustible chemicals from densely-populated Old Dhaka, as a permanent relocation across the Buriganga would take years.

The Chawkbazar fire might not have taken place, had the recommendations of a probe committee after the 2010 Nimtoli fire been implemented, the High Court said yesterday.

After coming to Dhaka from Noakhali when he was only 10 years old, Abdul Mannan engaged himself in many an odd job -- from working at restaurants to construction sites -- to save money for himself. He was able to save Tk 10 lakhs, with which he opened up a stationary shop 16 years ago.

After an inferno had claimed 124 lives in Old Dhaka's Nimtoli in 2010, the government took up four projects to relocate four types of industries -- chemical, plastic, printing and light electronics -- from this part of the capital.

But one thing is sure, chemicals and flammable objects had fed the flames that almost gutted Haji Wahed Mansion and partly damaged three other adjoining buildings on Wednesday night, causing the fire to last longer, said exerts and members of a probe committee.

The air around the Azimpur Graveyard is particularly heavy with wailing of people who come to bury their loved ones after losing them in the tragic incident of Chawkbazar fire.

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will be profiling the DNA of the unidentified victims of Chawkbazar fire for handing over the bodies.

Authorities have handed over bodies of 46 victims of the devastating Chawkbazar fire to their families, district administration says.

An information centre has been opened at Dhaka Medical College Hospital to convey updated information about the victims of Chawkbazar fire.