19 die in Dhaka office block fire
 

DHAKA: Desperate workers leaped to their deaths as a huge fire tore through a Dhaka office block on Thursday, killing at least 19 people and trapping others in the latest major inferno to hit the Bangladesh capital.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. At least six people died after jumping from the 22-floor building, officials said.Dhaka police chief Asaduzzaman Mia told reporters at least 73 people were injured and being treated in hospitals across Dhaka. People were seen screaming for help as hundreds of panicked onlookers crowded the streets of the upmarket Banani commercial district. 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 Dhaka apartment buildings 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.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. Three hospitals reported that six men and women had died or arrived with fatal injuries after jumping from the office block. They included a Sri Lankan man whose body was taken to the army’s Kurmitola Hospital.Helicopters were deployed to drop water on the blaze as scores of firefighters backed by navy and air force specialists struggled to bring it under control. A top fire official said the flames had been stopped from spreading to adjoining buildings. Rescue crews were soon discovering bodies and carrying them out one after the other in white bags.Fire disasters regularly hit Bangladesh’s major cities where safety standards are notoriously lax. A massive blaze in Dhaka’s old quarter on February 21 killed at least 70 people and injured 50 others.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/oJ3jcampa2M

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