Asia

Bangladesh prime minister sees injured in deadly Dhaka fire

Associated Press
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People look at a charred vehicle in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Police on Friday were seeking up to a dozen suspects in connection with a fire in the oldest part of Bangladesh's capital that killed scores of people. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu )

A crowd gathers at the site of a fire that raced through this neighborhood on Wednesday night in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Police on Friday were seeking up to a dozen suspects in connection with a fire in the oldest part of Bangladesh's capital that killed scores of people. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu )

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has visited some of the injured in a devastating fire in the capital while investigators have found a huge stock of flammable materials stashed in the basement of the five-story building where the blaze began.

Hasina told reporters Saturday that she wants all the chemical warehouses removed from the oldest part of Dhaka, a cramped 400-year-old area.

At least 67 people died and 50 others were injured in the fire Wednesday that police say began in a five-story building.

Fire Service and Civil Defense deputy director Debashish Bardhan says investigators discovered the basement stock on Friday, and that the devastation could have been far worse.

Investigators haven't said yet what sparked the fire.