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A massive fire in Bangladesh that raced through a six-storey building home to restaurants where many families with children were dining has killed at least 45 people and injured dozens, the health minister said on Friday.

Fire authorities said a gas leak or a stove could have caused Thursday's blaze in the capital, which spread quickly after breaking out in a biryani restaurant, and was only reined in following two hours of effort by 13 units of firefighters.

Hospitals are treating 22 people with burn wounds, Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen told reporters.

"All 22 people ... are in critical condition," Sen said after a visit to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed shock and sorrow over the incident, ordering officials to provide swift treatment for the injured.

One survivor, Mohammad Altaf, recounted his narrow escape from the blaze that killed two colleagues.

"I went to the kitchen, broke a window and jumped to save myself," he told reporters, adding that a cashier and server who urged people to leave during the first moments had died later.

Firefighters used cranes to rescue people from the charred building, said fire officials, who were still working to clear debris and stamp out any remaining embers.

Relatives gathered at the hospital early on Friday to receive the bodies of the dead, with some mourning outside the emergency department.

Doctors said most of the dead were killed by suffocation with others dying as they jumped off the building, which also houses some clothing and mobile telephone shops.

The fire could have originated from a gas leak or stove, said Brigadier General Main Uddin, a top fire service official.

"It was a dangerous building with gas cylinders on every floor, even on the stairs," he told Reuters, adding that it had a single staircase, lacking an emergency exit and other safety measures.

The government has set up a five-member panel to investigate the incident.

The main opposition party blamed the government for the fire.

"Accidents and disasters keep happening as there is no rule of law," Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said in a statement.

"The government is not accountable to the people and that's why anarchy prevails, many accidents occur and people lose their lives."

Intense scrutiny of Bangladesh and the major global clothing retailers that manufacture there has helped prevent disasters in the garment sector since a fire in 2012 and a building collapse in 2013 together killed more than 1,200 workers.

But in other industries, mainly catering to the booming domestic economy and lacking equal emphasis on safety, hundreds of people have died in fires.

Fires are common in densely populated Dhaka, where many new buildings have sprung up, many lacking adequate safety measures. Fires and explosions have resulted from faulty gas cylinders, air conditioners and poor electrical wiring.

In July 2021, many children were among the 54 people killed at a food processing factory outside Dhaka, while at least 70 people were killed in a February 2019 fire that engulfed a centuries-old precinct.

Three persons died when three vehicles collided at Belbari in Morang along the East-West Highway on Friday.

According to police, the deceased have been identified as Yadukanta Bhattarai (52) of Kamal Rural Municipality-2 of Jhapa, Deepa Khanal (44) OF Kamal Rural Municipality-4 and Krishna Gajurel (36) of Birtamod Municipality-2, Jhapa.

Critically injured in the incident, Bhattarai and Khanal died at the Biratnagar-based Koshi Hospital and Gajurel at the Neuro Hospital in Biratnagar.

After the incident, Bhattarai and Khanal were rushed to the Koshi Hospital, but doctors pronounced them dead on arrival.

Gajurel breathed his last during the course of treatment at 8:55 am today.

Two persons were injured in the accident.

Hari Khanal (46) of Kamal Rural Municipality-4 and Gayetri Bhattarai (48) of Kamal Rural Municipality-2 are undergoing treatment at the Neuro Hospital.

Police said that a tipper, a bus and a Bolero jeep collided at around 6: 30 am. According to police, the deceased and the injured were traveling in the jeep.

The tipper (Pradesh 1-02-001) heading east from west collided with the bus (Pradesh 03-001 Kha 2718) and Bolero jeep (Me 1 Ja 2856) this morning.

Injured Hari is the husband of deceased Deepa and Gayetri is the wife of deceased Yadukanta.  

Among the deceased, Krishna is the driver of the jeep.

Following the incident, police have impounded the tipper and bus and arrested their drivers Chandra Bahadur BK (23) of Sundarharaicha Municipality-7, Morang and Chatra Kumar Maske (46) of Sundariharaicha-12 for investigation.

Nepal lost to Jordan in the penalties in the final match of West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Women's Championship held at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The match had kicked off at 9:45 pm NST on Thursday.

Jordan, the sixth time winner of the title, defeated Nepal by 5-3 in the tiebreaker. Nepal stood the first runner up in their first attempt in the WAFF Women's Championship.

For Nepal, Gita Rana, Dipa Shahi and Hira Bhujel scored in the penalties but Amrita Jaisi could not make it happen. However, Jordon scored all five goals in the penalties.

Earlier, Nepal had led 1-0 until the first half of the match.

Sabita Ranamagar scored in the 29th minute of the first half, with a beautiful volley from outside the D-box.

But Nepal's leading position could not win the game as Jordon's Lana Feras equalized the game with a goal in the 74th minute. Jordon scored yet another goal in the 89th minute. For Jordon, Sarah Abu Sabbah contributed the second goal. But the game ended with equal 2-2 as Nepal's Gita Rana scored a goal in the penalty during the additional time of the second half of the match.

Earlier, Nepal defeated Lebanon 2-1 in the semi-finals while Jordan defeated Palestine by 5-0 to reach the final. Nepal is in 115th position in FIFA ranking while Jordan is in 74th position. The Nepali team is led by Captain Angela Tumbapo Subba.

Report Study and Implementation Recommendation Committee under Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) former governor Deependra Bahadur Kshetry-led Nepal Airlines Corporation Structural Reforms Study Committee has submitted its fourth report.

The Report Study and Implementation Recommendation Committee led by former Captain Kul Bahadur Limbu submitted the report jointly to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sudan Kirati, Secretary Deepak Kafle and Executive Chairperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation, Yubraj Adhikari today.

The report has mainly incorporated four points—making internal audits effective, forming an accounts committee to make decisions of board of directors and NAC's governance effectively, selling shares of Soaltee Hotel to make NAC financially strong and formulating a realistic action plan of NAC.

On the occasion, Minister Kirati directed the NAC Executive Chairperson for effective implementation of the report.