Banani fire death toll rises to 19

The death toll in Banani fire has jumped to 19 as the firefighters recovered more dead bodies from the 22-storey building, officials said.

The fire at the FR Tower was brought under control on Thursday evening. Then fire fighters entered the building.  

According to fire service control room, at least 19 people were killed and 70 others injured in the devastating fire.

The bodies of seven victims have been identified as Parvez Sazzad, 47, Amena Yasmin, 40, Mamun, 36, Sri Lankan citizen Niras Chandra, Abdullah Al Faruq, 32, Maqsudur, 66, and Monir, 50, said Banani police station officer-in-charge Farman Ali.

According to police, Amena succumbed to her injuries in the capital's Apollo Hospitals while Mamun, Maqsudur and Monir in United Hospital and Abdullah Al Faruq died after he was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.  

AFP adds: Rescue workers warned the death toll could rise sharply as fire fighters recovered charred bodies from the complex where an unknown number of office workers were engulfed by intense smoke and flames.

Some workers slid down a television cable on the side of the building. Others grabbed ropes lowered by emergency service helicopters which pulled them out of the blaze.

The inferno erupted barely a month after at least 70 people were killed in Chawkbazar where illegally stored chemicals exploded.

The latest disaster brought new scenes of horror amid fears that the toll would rise. More than 100 ambulances were parked in streets around the building.

Shoikot Rahman heard colleagues raise the alarm and ran to safety before smoke and flames engulfed the building.

"When I heard a fire broke out in the building, I quickly rushed out," he told AFP. "Many of my colleagues are still trapped in the office."

Firefighters on long ladders smashed windows to create escape routes. More than one hour after the blaze erupted people could still be seen on the 13th and 14th floors desperately waving for help amid clouds of black smoke.

Army helicopters dangled ropes that victims grabbed so they could be lifted to safety, with crowds below cheering and applauding every time someone was rescued.

A top fire official said the flames had been stopped from spreading to adjoining buildings.

"Teams have entered the building and they are scouring the floors for any remaining victims. The building did not have fire fighting equipment," said Julfikar Rahman of the Dhaka fire service told reporters.

Rescue crews were soon discovering bodies and carrying them out one after the other in white bags.

Some workers told of risky escapes.

"My uncle and two more people jumped from their floor. His hand and leg are broken and his eye is damaged," one man said without giving his name.

A man who gave his name as Jico said he had been working on the 19th floor. "The fire started in a restaurant on the sixth floor. We ran to the roof as soon as we heard about it and then used a wooden plank to get over to the next building."

Fire disasters regularly hit Bangladesh's major cities where safety standards are notoriously lax.

A massive blaze in Old Dhaka on 21 February killed at least 70 people and injured 50 others.

Fire service officials said chemicals illegally stored in an apartment building exploded and set alight five buildings and nearby streets. That blaze took more than 12 hours to control.

A June 2010 fire in Old Dhaka's Nimtoli killed 123 people.

In November 2012, a fire swept through a nine-story garment factory near Dhaka killing 111 workers.