Survivors wept Friday over lost loved ones, including 15 members of a wedding party, as the death toll from the Bangladeshi capital's worst fire in recent history rose to 116. More than 100 others were injured, many with severe burns.

The blaze started Thursday night when an electrical transformer exploded soon after a rainstorm swept the city, police officer Abul Kalam said. The explosion ignited a shop storing flammable chemicals, from where the flames quickly spread to at least six apartment buildings and about 15 stores in the Najirabazar area of old Dhaka, some packed with old newspapers sold for scrap.

The transformer explosion also plunged the area into darkness, making escape more difficult.