Bangla blaze toll climbs to 100 (Second Lead)

DHAKA - Authorities in Bangladesh have launched an investigation into a fire that raged through residential buildings, shops and a market killing nearly 100 people here, officials said Friday.

Firefighters said they pulled 98 bodies, many burned beyond recognition, from the ashes of Thursday’s fire. More than 200 survivors with severe burns were undergoing treatment at the capital’s two main hospitals, a hospital official said.

State-run television put the death toll at 108.

The fire broke out at 9 p.m. (1500 GMT) Thursday after an electric transformer explosion at Nimtoli in the old part of the city.

Flames soon spread to seven residential buildings, trapping many occupants inside, and a plastics factory, said Abdus Salam, deputy director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Firefighters, soldiers and police Friday morning relaunched a search for bodies in the buildings. The government set up two investigation committees to determine the cause of the blaze. They were asked to report back in a week.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed and opposition leader Khaleda Zia expressed shock at the deaths in separate messages. The opposition leader called for an investigation into whether there were any failings in the rescue operations.

The fire took place two days after at least 22 people were killed in a building collapse in the capital’s Tejgaon area.