The first heroes of the hour were civilians. Fellow workers, pedestrians or shop-owners from the neighbouring Karwan Bazar emerged as the sole providers of emergency support for people trapped inside the building during the first minutes of the fire.

These civilians, who immediately thronged to the scene after the fire broke out, were forced by circumstances to take control of the situation in absence of government agencies, as the fire service arrived 40 minutes after the fire was detected.

They were seen carrying the injured on their shoulders to a safety, they were seen helping them down ladders when some were too shocked to move, they were breaking windows and running in to grab people and often they seriously injured themselves in the process. Tainted black with smoke, drenched in water and smeared with blood, the civilian rescuers were invaluable in their efforts until the professionals took over.

When the firemen arrived in force, plumes of smoke were coming out of the first, second and third floor. Often criticised for their lacklustre track record, they stormed the blazing floors and searched for survivors.

While pandemonium was taking place outside, 10 firemen who entered the first, second and third floor, quietly continued to evacuate men and women and give hope in what had become a despondent situation. They kept on working away floor after floor, even when most of the blazes were put out, making their final rescue of three people at 3:15pm on the 10th floor.

Meanwhile, when two men were found stranded on the 9th floor window ledge, firemen tried in vain to use their snorkel fire engine (a fire truck with a crane and a nest mounted on it) to reach them, as the crane was too short.

However, Major Imran, a commando from the Bangladesh Army, came forward and took the risk of carrying a bamboo ladder on the tiny and precarious nest of the crane so that the two men could be brought down. His strong resolution was only matched by his sturdy grip to hold the ladder in place and get the men down safely. Imran, along with Major Siddique, also led the search mission into the building at 2:00pm.

At the same time, the lower floors of the building each with 7,500 square-foot of floor space, turned into an infernal nightmare.

Around 11:30am, Bangladesh Air Force's (BAF) Warrant Officers Aziz and Akbar were flown in on a chopper to evacuate the trapped people from the roof. The evacuation operation became extremely risky due to rooftop antennas and aerials. Aziz was the first to descend on the roof on a rope from the helicopter followed by his colleague Akbar.

The two men then got to work. The fire continued to spread over the whole building. It took more than two hours to set up the fire service's only Turntable Ladder (TTL) so it could reach the roof. Aziz, Akbar, an unidentified policeman and a member of the fire brigade organised the toughest evacuation operation of their lives. As Aziz stood on top of the ladder, the team of rescuers instructed the men and women how to use the ladder to get down.

In the first batch Aziz and others helped dozens of men and women get down the tallest ladder in the country that reached the height of around 150 feet.

The toughest challenge for the rescuers on the rooftop came with four-year-old Mzanur Rahman, who had accompanied his mother to the building to meet his uncle. The team strapped the child to the back of a fireman, who was seen descending the ladder.