At least 19 people, including a Sri Lankan citizen, were killed and 70 others injured in a fire that broke out at FR Tower in Dhaka’s Banani area this afternoon.
The death toll rose to 19 till filling the report around 8:00pm, our staff correspondent reports following update of the media cell set up by the Fire Service and Civil Defence on the spot.
The death toll may rise further, according to the fire service officials, who were conducting rescue operation.
The fire broke out on the eighth floor of the 22-storey building on Banani Road 17 around 1:00pm and engulfed other floors immediately. The cause of the fire could not be known immediately.
The fire was brought under control around 4:45pm, said Farid Uddin, a duty officer of the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters.
A total of 21 firefighting units were trying to douse the blaze and rescue the people trapped inside the building. Later, Army, Navy and Air forces; police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) joined the operation.
Helicopters were seen spraying water on the building and firefighters were bringing people out the window panes in groups, using ladders, our correspondent reports from the spot.
Six of the deceased were identified as Parvex Sazzad, 47, Amen Yasmin, 30, Masud 36, Niras Chandra, 30, Abdullah Al Faroque, 32, Maksudur, 36, and Manir 50, reports our staff reporter quoting police.
Of them, Niras Chandra was a Sri Lankan national. He reportedly fell to his death while escaping the fire. Niras was brought dead to Kurmitola General Hospital, said the hospital’s Director Brig Gen Qazi Rashid-Un-Nabi.
He sustained serious injuries as he jumped off the building to escape the fire and died before he was brought to the hospital, he also said.
Abu Bakar Siddiq, officer-in-charge of Gulshan Police Station, said that bodies of three of the victims were brought to the United Hospital this afternoon.
Around 41 injured were admitted to Kurmitola General Hospital, said the hospital’s Director Brig Gen Qazi Rashid-Un-Nabi.
“Their conditions are not serious. Most of them are suffering from breathing complications as they inhaled the smoke,” Brig Gen Qazi Rashid-Un-Nabi.
When the fire sparked inside the building, at least six people were seen falling off while trying to escape the blaze. Many others were trying to climb down on the ledges.
Four floors of the building from eight to 11th floor of the 22-storey building badly affected by the fire, our correspondent reports visiting the spot.
Relatives were crowding Banani in search of their near and dear ones.
They were seen crying in despair and gathering in groups as they could not reach the phones of their family members.
One such aggrieved mother told The Daily Star that her daughter Aparajita Barua works in an office on the 12th floor of the building.
“During our last contact, she told us there were huge fumes in the building and that she was finding it difficult to breathe. Now, we can’t reach her on the phone,” she said.
