<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>A day after a deadly explosion in a 5-storey building&nbsp; in Dhaka's Siddique Bazar area,&nbsp; two&nbsp; bodies were recovered from the debris on Wednesday -- raising the death toll to 19.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>One of the deceased was identified as Momin Uddin Suman, 44, who used to work as a manager of a sanitary shop.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Mohammad Aktaruzzaman, deputy director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, told reporters that they recovered two bodies from the basement of the damaged building.</div><div><br></div><div>“The rescue operation inside the building&nbsp; started in the afternoon after a dog squad identified the presence of the bodies,” he said, adding that the operation was conducted with heavy equipment.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Among the injured, 11 people have been undergoing treatment at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.</div><div><br></div><div>The explosion occurred around 4:50pm with a big bang on Tuesday at Siddique Bazar in Gulistan.</div><div><br></div><div>A sanitary materials shop on the ground floor of the building, Brac Bank office on one of the other floors and an adjacent 7-storied building were damaged but no building collapsed, Sikder added.</div><div><br></div><div>Visiting the spot on Wednesday, Home Minister Md Asaduzzaman said, “The five-storey building has turned risky and the whole building may collapse if pressure is created on it. So rescue operation in the basement should be started after creating a stable situation”.</div><div><br></div><div>A four-member probe body headed by Lt Col Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, director of Fire Service and Civil Defense (Operation and maintenance), has been formed to investigate the explosion.</div><div><br></div><div>The committee was asked to submit its report within five working days, said Shahjahan Sikder, Deputy Additional Director of Fire service and Civil Defense headquarters media cell. Source: UNB</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>