A huge fire in a Dhaka office block has killed at least 19 people, an official said today, with desperate workers leaping to their deaths in the latest major inferno to hit the Bangladeshi capital.
Afire service officer said the death toll may continue to rise as rescue crews search the torched building.
Many of those trapped waved frantically from the building’s windows and roof, witnesses said, as passersby stood watching and praying below.
Helicopters were brought in to join 22 firefighting units that worked with the army, navy, air force and police to battle the blaze as smoke billowed into the sky.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. The building is in the upscale, built-up Banani area of the city.
Many students gathered to help fire and police officials in the rescue work.
One witness said he saw three people attempting to escape by climbing out of the eighth floor soon after the fire began, but one fell and was later declared dead.
Nanda, a finance manager at the IT firm AAMRA which has offices on four different floors in the building, said he managed to escape with 20 colleagues.
Last month, a massive fire killed 71 people in an old neighbourhood of Dhaka, one of the world’s most densely populated cities.
