DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 shook central Bangladesh on Friday, killing at least six people and leaving hundreds of others injured, authorities and local media said. Buildings in the capital, Dhaka, swayed in the temblor, sending panicked residents into the streets.
The quake hit at 10:38 a.m. (0438 GMT), with the epicenter in the Ghorashal area in Narsingdi district, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Dhaka. The U.S. Geological Survey said that it had a preliminary depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).
Dhaka-based DBC Television reported that at least six people, including two children, died in the capital and elsewhere — three of them were killed in the collapse of a building’s roof and a wall, and three pedestrians died when building railings fell on them in Dhaka.
Three people, who were outside to buy meat from a meat shop in Armanitola, an area of Dhaka’s old city, were injured after the railing and concrete materials fell on them. They were declared dead after they were taken to a hospital, Prothom Alo newspaper said.
Local resident Mohammed Arif was nearby.
“I was sitting here. When the earthquake happened, I came out and then heard a loud noise. I looked and saw that some bricks had fallen, and I saw some people injured also,” he said.
The Fire Service and Civil Defense department said that it deployed firefighters at places where people reported tilting buildings. Firefighters were also deployed to extinguish a blaze at a building in Dhaka’s Baridhara neighborhood.
Television stations reported scenes of desperation at medical facilities, including at the state-run Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Dhaka University students jumped from the upper floors of their dormitories.
Authorities ordered all medical facilities across the country to stay extra alert to support the injured.
According to the USGS, though northern and southeastern Bangladesh are seismically active regions because of interactions between the India and Eurasia plates, the central region of the country is less active.
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