UAE visa centre damaged as Bangladesh blast kills one

Six people injured in Dhaka explosion

A general view of the Bangladeshi capital city Dhaka in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on September 16, 2019. Dhaka is the second least liveable city in the world, according to the annual global survey of Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Unavailability of adequate infrastructure is responsible for the low score of Dhaka. Every city was assigned a rating of relative comfort for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Each factor in a city is rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable. Dhaka scored an overall of 38 out of a possible score of 100. (Photo by Mamunur Rashid/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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An explosion in a high rise in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, housing a UAE visa centre on Wednesday killed one and injured six others.

The blast was caused by a technical issue with the tower block building’s air-conditioning system, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The blast damaged the 14-storey Empori Financial Centre but it is unclear if it caused structural damage to the building.

Kumar Chakraborty, deputy commissioner Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Gulshan division, where the blast occurred, said that the man killed was the air-conditioning mechanic.

The injured were not identified.

Emergency services attended the incident.

“Preliminary investigations suggest that the incident was caused by mechanical issues during routine maintenance of the air-conditioning unit. The UAE embassy is co-operating with the local authorities to carry out further investigations to clarify the reason behind the explosion,” the ministry said.