The death toll from the massive explosion that ripped through a 5-storey building near the BRTC bus counter in Gulistan has risen to 17, with two more victims succumbing to their injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) Tuesday night.

The identities of the two newly deceased, as admittedly the case with the 15 who perished earlier, is simply not available - not even with the police, said Inspector Bachhu Mia, in-charge of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital police camp.

The injured were undergoing treatment at the hospital, he added.

Read: President shocked at loss of lives in Gulistan blast

The explosion occurred around 4:50pm with a big bang, said Shahjahan Sikder, deputy assistant director (media cell) of the Fire Service and Civil Defence.

On information, eleven units of fire service and five ambulances rushed to the spot and conducted rescue operations, he added.

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.

People on the upper floors became trapped for some hours as it was not possible to get to the ground floor - the columns holding up the building from the ground had collapsed, said Brig General Md Main Uddin, director general of FSCD.

Read: Gulistan blast: Fire DG hints at sanitary shops on ground floor

“We are unable to enter the ground floor because the building is now at risk due to the collapse of the columns. So, we are taking the help of the army,” he made the remarks while replying to a question from reporters after visiting the site of the blast in Fulbaria area of Gulistan.

Since the Fire Service chief spoke, the chairman of RAJUK has however been able to confirm that everyone inside has, to the best of everyone's knowledge, been evacuated.

The huge blast occurred within two days of the blast in a building in Science lab area in the capital that killed three people  and injured more than 50 on Sunday.