AT LEAST 43 people have been killed and dozens injured after a fire broke out at a six-storey shopping centre in Bangladesh, the health minister said. 

Samanta Lal Sen said the fire started late on Thursday in the building in Dhaka’s Bailey Road area.

Firefighters rescued survivors and pulled out dead bodies, and by early Friday at least 43 people had died and 22 others were being treated, he said.

Crews said the fire began in a restaurant on the first floor of the building in the heart of the capital, and many people were trapped by the flames.

Sen said at least 33 people, including women and children, were declared dead at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

At least 10 others died after being taken to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, he said.

More than a dozen firefighting units were deployed to douse the blaze that broke out at the Green Cosy Cottage Shopping Mall, said Fire Service and Civil Defence director General Brigadier General Main Uddin.

At least 75 people, including 42 who were unconscious, were rescued from the building, crews said.

With reporting from Press Association