DHAKA, Bangladesh —At least 19 people have been killed and dozens more injured after a fire broke out in a commercial highrise building in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, the fire brigade said Thursday.

The fire erupted at the 19-story Faruk Rupayan Tower in Dhaka's northern Babani area, Fire Service and Civil Defense department official Rasel Sikder said.

The bodies of 13 people have been recovered from the scene, Abdus Samad Azad, another official at the department, told dpa by phone. Six others died in hospitals.

The bodies were at different hospitals in the city, he added. </s> DHAKA, Bangladesh — A fire broke out on Thursday in a large office tower in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, killing at least four people and trapping an untold number inside, the local news media reported.

Videos circulating on social media showed large flames burning through the 24-story building, F.R. Tower, and at least one person was seen jumping or falling. </s> A fire broke out on Thursday in a large office tower in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, trapping an untold number inside, the local news media reported.

Videos circulating on social media showed large flames burning through the building, and at least one person was jumping or falling from the 19-story building.

The fire broke out just before 1 p.m. at FR Tower in the Banani neighborhood, Officer Ataur Rahman of the Dhaka Fire Service told the Dhaka Tribune. </s> DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A fire in a high-rise office building in Bangladesh’s capital has been brought under full control with the death toll climbing to 25, fire officials said Friday.

The blaze that burned for several hours Thursday had trapped people inside the building, some shouting for help from windows on upper floors and the roof. But fire officials later said most had been rescued. By Friday morning, no smoke was visible and firefighters and forensic investigators were working at the scene.

Mostak Ahmed, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Associated Press on Friday that the death toll rose to 25 with all but one identified. Based on information provided by relatives, no one appeared to still be unaccounted for, he said. “Still we are checking, if someone comes to us we will verify,” he said.

The fire injured about 70 people, many of them now being treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s burn unit.

Fire Service duty officer Forhadul Alam said hospital authorities have started handing over the bodies to their families.

The fire at the FR Tower, on a busy avenue in Dhaka’s Banani commercial district, was the latest in a country where crowding, flouted building regulations and safety norms have made deadly blazes common.

Last month, a fire in the oldest part of Dhaka, a 400-year-old area cramped with apartments, shops and warehouses, left at least 67 people dead.

In 2012, a fire at a garment factory killed at least 112 people trapped behind its locked gates. Less than six months later, another building containing garment factories collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people.

Another fire in a house illegally storing chemicals in Old Dhaka killed at least 123 people in 2010. </s> (CNN) — At least 67 people have been killed and 40 injured after a fire tore through apartment buildings and chemical warehouses in a historic part of the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, according to Mohammed Nurul Islam, a senior official with the Home Affairs Ministry.

The latest such deadly blaze in the south Asian nation broke out Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. ET) in Dhaka's Chawkbazar area, a district in old Dhaka with sprawling narrow streets and densely-packed buildings.

Police and fire officials revised down the death toll to 67 on Friday down from 78 on Thursday. Rasem Shikdar, officer with the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense, said there were "around 40 people" injured in the fire.

Inspector Morad Dul Islam with the Chawkbazar police said 45 bodies have been identified.

Throughout the night, firefighters battled the blaze, which is believed to have started when a fuel cylinder stored in a car exploded. </s> Criminal case to be filed in Bangladesh fire that killed 25

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A Bangladeshi housing official said Friday criminal charges would be filed against the owner of a building where a fire killed 25 people and which had four upper floors constructed illegally.

Minister for Housing and Public Work S.M. Rezaul Karim also pledged to take action against officials in his ministry if they were guilty of wrongdoing associated with allowing the added floors or other violations.

Raising buildings beyond approved design is rampant in Bangladesh, where the government is seeking fast economic development and the private sector is expanding.

The blaze that burned for several hours Thursday trapped people inside the building, some shouting for help from windows on upper floors and the roof. By Friday morning, no smoke was visible at the FR Tower on a busy avenue in Dhaka's Banani commercial district.

Mostak Ahmed, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Associated Press on Friday that the death toll rose to 25 with all but one identified. Based on information provided by relatives, no one appeared to still be unaccounted for, he said. "Still we are checking, if someone comes to us we will verify," he said.

The fire injured about 70 people, many of them now being treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital's burn unit.

The fire was the latest in a country where crowding, flouted building regulations and safety norms have made deadly blazes common.

Last month, a fire in the oldest part of Dhaka, a 400-year-old area cramped with apartments, shops and warehouses, left at least 67 people dead.

In 2012, a fire at a garment factory killed at least 112 people trapped behind its locked gates. Less than six months later, another building containing garment factories collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people.

Another fire in a house illegally storing chemicals in Old Dhaka killed at least 123 people in 2010. </s> DHAKA: The death toll from a horrific blaze that ripped through a Bangladesh skyscraper rose on Friday (Mar 29) to 25, including some who leapt to their deaths, as firefighters combed through the charred shell of the building.

A day after flames tore through the 22-storey FR Tower in Dhaka, trapping hundreds of office workers, police said they intended to talk to the owner of the building as part of their enquiry.



Some of those stuck inside made it to safety by sliding down cables on the side of the building, but as shocked onlookers watched, others took their chances and jumped in a bid to escape the smoke and heat.

At least six people including a Sri Lankan national died this way, officials said.

Senior fire service official Mohsin Ali told AFP rescuers were scouring the building, concentrating on the worst-affected eighth-to-tenth floors.

The fire department intially put the death toll at 19 but police said Friday that six more had died in the fire.

"The death toll is 25. We have handed over 24 bodies to their relatives," deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Mostak Ahmed told AFP. The other victim's remains are being held until relatives are located.

Ahmed said police also wanted to speak to the owner of the building after authorities alleged the tower lacked adequate safety measures.

There was no immediate indication if others are missing, but more than 70 people were treated in hospital in the wake of the blaze.

The fire erupted on Thursday afternoon in the upmarket Banani commercial district.

Hundreds of onlookers gathered to watch as trapped workers screamed for help from smoke-logged floors.

Firefighters backed by military specialists - some in helicopters - tackled the blaze, lowering ropes to help people escape, while rescuers on long ladders smashed through windows.

Bangladesh authorities have ordered a probe into the incident, amid official claims that the skyscraper lacked fire equipment, its fire exits were inadequate and it had been illegally extended.

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

According to a 2012 study by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, most high-rise buildings in Dhaka have inadequate fire safety measures.

"We found only two buildings fully compliant," BUET professor Mehedi Ahmed Ansari said of the survey, adding some of the buildings they looked at were little more than "death traps".

Fire department director Shakil Newaj said they had warned the FR Tower management to improve fire safety standards, but they did not pay heed.

"Fire safety measures in the building were very weak. There were no sprinklers. Fire exits existed only in name," Newaj told AFP.

A June 2010 fire in the nearby neighbourhood of Nimtoli, one of the most densely populated districts of the capital, killed 123 people.

In November 2012, a fire swept through a nine-story garment factory near Dhaka killing 111 workers. An investigation found it was caused by sabotage and that managers at the plant had prevented victims from escaping.

Experts said inspections of buildings in the city frequently found fire stairs blocked with stored goods and exit doors locked. </s> DHAKA (Reuters) - A huge fire broke out on Wednesday at a building in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, a fire service official said, and local media reported that at least three people had died in the blaze.

All available units of the fire service were instructed to rush to the scene to put out the blaze, said Mahfuzul Haque, an official at the Fire Service control room.

It was not immediately clear what caused the fire at the building in Chawkbazar in the old part of Dhaka.

The Dhaka Tribune reported on its website that at least three people had been killed in the fire and several more had been taken to hospital. </s> Bangladesh fire LIVE Updates: At least 70 people were killed Thursday in a fire that swept a centuries-old area of Bangladesh capital Dhaka. The fire initially broke out at a chemical warehouse on the ground floor of a four-storey building named Hazi Wahed Mansion behind a mosque in Old Dhaka’s Chawkbazar area and quickly spread to nearby buildings.

The death toll from last night jumped to 70 Thursday morning. “The number could rise further as search is continuing,” Reuters quoted Julfikar Rahman, a director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence as saying.
A fire breaks out in Dhaka, Bangladesh, at a 22-story tower, killing at least 25 people and injuring more than 70 others.