25 killed in Bangladesh skyscraper inferno as building lacks fire exits

A Bangladeshi housing official said on 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, The Associated Press reported.

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, AP said.

The blaze that burned for several hours on 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 22-story FR Tower on a busy avenue in Dhaka's Banani commercial district.

Mostak Ahmed, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said 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.

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, Agence France-Presse reported.

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

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.

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

Julfikar Rahman, director of the Fire Service and Civil Defense, told Reuters that the building lacked proper fire exits.

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

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.

(China Daily 03/30/2019 page8)