Fire at high-rise in Bangladesh kills at least five, 60 injured, many trapped

DHAKA (Reuters) - A fire broke out at a 22-storey building in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka on Thursday, killing at least five people, injuring 60 and trapping and many, officials said.

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 fire is almost under control,” said Mizanur Rahman, a senior fire service official at the scene.

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 student, Faisal Rifayat, 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 neighborhood of Dhaka, one the world’s most densely populated cities.