Seven killed, dozens injured; over 100 rescued
At least seven people, including a Sri Lankan citizen, were killed and dozens injured in the fire that broke out at the fire in a high-rise building in city's posh Banani area on Thursday afternoon.
Banani police OC Farman Ali confirmed media about the deaths at about 5pm.
The dead were identified as Parvez Sajjad,47, Amena Yasmin,40, Mamun,36, Farooque,32, Maksudur,66, Monir,50, and Sri Lankan citizen Niras Chandra.
Sources in the Banani police control room, set up for providing information about the fire, said Amena died at Apollo Hospitals while Parvez Sajjad at Banani Clinic, Niras Chandra at Kurmitola General Hospital, Mamun, Maksudur and Monir at United Hospital and Abdullah Al Farooque died at the DMCH.
Army, navy and air force members have rescued over 100 people from the building till 5pm.
Two sky lifts are being used in the evacuation process.
Debashish Bardhan, deputy director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, said 25 fire fighting units are engaged in the rescue operation.
Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam is also present on the spot.
The 22-storey 'FR Tower' on road-17 in the city's upmarket commercial area caught fire at about 12:55pm.
The devastating fire broke out on the eighth and ninth floors of the building.
A massive fire at Chwakbazar in Dhaka's old part on the night of February 20 killed 70 people and injured dozens more.
