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Fire rages through Dhaka office block

People climb down the ladder of a crane from the roof of a building after fire engulfed a building in Dhaka yesterday. Hundreds of people were stuck in a media tower in the Bangladeshi capital after a devastating fire engulfed the building, killing at least two and injuring dozens, police and officials said. PHOTO: AFP

At least two people died yesterday and scores more had to be plucked to safety by helicopter as a fire swept through a packed office block in the Bangladeshi capital, officials said.

Army helicopters raced against the clock to save workers screaming for help from the top of the 13-story building as the blaze raged beneath them. Dozens of people were injured and taken to hospital, police said.

Rescuers were hampered by walls of flames and choking black smoke billowing from the building, a well-known media center that houses two private television stations and a newspaper. An estimated 2,000 people work in the block.

"It was a hell-like situation," said Samia Raman from NTV, the country's biggest private television network, who managed to get out.

A man and a woman who both jumped from the sixth floor died, hospital officials said.

Other people trapped on lower floors smashed windows and jumped or climbed down cables to save themselves from the inferno, said local police chief Jane Alam.

Several hundred more were rescued by firefighters using ladders.

"About 60 of us were working on the sixth floor and all of a sudden we saw smoke all over our floor. We ran to the balconies and cried for help. It was like hell," said Jashim Uddin, a cameraman with NTV's sister network RTV.

Another man who was trapped on the sixth floor said he used a cable to escape.

"I became desperate when I saw the inferno on my floor. I went to the window and got hold of a cable and came down using it as a rope," he said.

Officials said the blaze took four hours to contain.

"The fires have been controlled now up to the ninth floor although there are still some small fires on the higher floors," said senior fire brigade officer Kalam, who uses one name.

"We are scouring upper floors for anyone injured or lying dead. But our efforts have been slowed by melted wires, burnt metals and choking smoke," he said.

Alam said more than 300 people had been rescued from the building.

"The firefighters rescued most of them with ladders while the military winched up scores of others from the rooftop. Other panicky people jumped as the fire raced along some of the floors in minutes," he said.

He said the injured were being treated for burns or for injuries suffered when they jumped.

City fire brigade chief Salim Bhuiyan said the fire raced through the building and hundreds of firefighters, army rescuers and police were mobilized to tackle it.

"The building did not have proper fire protection facilities," he said, adding that the blaze was believed to have started on the second floor.

Bangladesh is notorious for poor fire safety standards in offices and factories.

In addition to the two private television stations, the block also houses the offices of the Bengali-language daily newspaper Amar Desh.
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