Flags in Bangladesh were lowered to half-staff Saturday as the country mourned 117 people killed in a massive fire, AP reported. The country's deadliest blaze in recent memory broke out Thursday night in the narrow alleys of the old section of Dhaka, when an electrical transformer exploded soon after a rainstorm swept the city. About 100 others were injured. As of Friday, a total of 117 bodies had been found. Dhaka's Deputy Commissioner Muhibul Haque said earlier Saturday that 39 injured people, many in critical condition and on life support, were still being treated at the state-run Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Later, 14 patients with life-threatening injuries had been shifted to a military hospital in Dhaka, said Shamanta Lal Sen, burns unit chief of the state-run hospital. Firefighters are blaming a chemical warehouse for helping accelerate the blaze. The area in the old part of Dhaka has many chemical warehouses or small factories in residential neighborhoods. -- SPA
