Fire in Huge Bangladeshi Mall Kills 1, Injures 20

A fire swept through Bangladesh's largest shopping mall today, killing a security guard, the AP reports. Some 10,000 shoppers poured outside the building and 20 were hospitalized, CNN notes. The blaze broke out on the 18th floor of the capital's 22-story Bashundhara City mall; flames spread to other floors despite efforts by firefighters in 15 fire trucks, an official said.

Rescuers are searching the mall for anyone left behind; police don’t know how many may remain. "There is no scope of getting information from the inside so far," said a police commissioner. The mall is said to be the biggest in South Asia and the 12th largest worldwide, receiving some 25,000 shoppers daily.
(More Bangladesh stories.)