At least 19 killed by Bangladesh high-rise building blaze
DHAKA, Bangladesh • A fire swept through a high-rise office building in Bangladesh’s capital on Thursday, killing at least 19 people and injuring about 70, officials said. The blaze trapped many people inside the building, with some shouting for help from windows on the building’s upper floors and from the roof.
At least one person fell to the ground while trying to climb down the building.
Fire officials said after battling the blaze for several hours that most people inside had been rescued.
“The situation is under control,” said Debashish Bardhan, a Fire Service and Civil Defense deputy director.
The fire at the FR Tower, on a busy avenue in Dhaka’s Banani commercial district, was the latest in a city where flouted building regulations and safety norms have made deadly blazes common.
Firefighters shattered the building’s glass walls to free toxic gas.
A Facebook Live video taken by Roy Pinaki showed five people climbing down from windows while burned building materials fell around them. One person slipped from what appeared to be a rope that people were using to escape, bounced off utility wires and fell to the ground.
A firefighter works to douse a fire in a building in Dhaka on Thursday.