President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have expressed profound shock and sorrow at the casualties in a fatal explosion at a building near the BRTC bus counter at Gulistan in the capital city.

In a condolence message, the president prayed for the salvation of the departed souls and conveyed his deepest sympathies to the bereaved families.

The president also wished speedy recovery of the injured.

The prime minister is now at Doha in Qatar and scheduled to return home Wednesday afternoon after attending the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries.

In a message of condolence, the Premier prayed for eternal peace of the departed souls and asked the authorities concerned to take prompt and necessary measures to ensure better treatment of the injured, PM's Press Wing sources said.

The Prime Minister also conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved families.

The explosion took place around 4.45pm at a seven-storey building, mostly housing sanitary hardware stores alongside some private offices, jolting the entire area.

So far, 16 people were killed and more than 150 others were injured in the incident on Tuesday evening.