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A view of the area around the warehouse where the fire in the old town of Dhaka was reported on February 21, 2019. REUTERS / Mohammad Ponir Hossain

In Bangladesh, a huge fire engulfed the old part of Dhaka on the night of Wednesday, 20 February. At least 70 people lost their lives in the fire that was reported to have been stored in warehouses and spread to several residential buildings in the area. Firefighters only managed to control the flames in the morning. And the families of victims are now trying to identify their loved ones.

With our correspondent in New Delhi , Sébastien Farcis

The fire took in the middle of the night on the ground floor of a building in this old district in the center of Dhaka, with extremely dense lanes. And it has spread to stores that store plastic, perfumes and especially chemicals.

It then became impossible for the thirty or so fire trucks to stop the fire - and at least four residential buildings were set on fire. The fire ended up being mastered late this Thursday and families are now seeking the bodies of their loved ones.

Already in 2010, a huge fire, also from a chemical factory, had ravaged the center of Dhaka and killed 120 people. The Bangladeshi government then promised to move these hazardous warehouses out of the city, and create a special commercial area for them. But eight years later, the purchase of new land is still not concluded. And several hundred chemical factories continue to operate in the heart of the Bangladeshi capital.