Most of the wounded were workers of the factory who suffered injuries as they jumped on to the roof of an adjacent four-storied building from the roof of the five-storey Envoy Garments Ltd building.

Rabeya Akhter, Rehana, Fatema, Umme Kulsum, Russell and Jewel were among the wounded workers. The names of the rest of the injured could not be known immediately. Two firefighters who were injured in the incidents are Ashraful Alam and Mohammad Jashim. The injured were admitted to different local hospitals and clinics.

Factory workers said the fire started from a boiler on the third floor around 5:15pm and they attempted to douse the flames with fire extinguishers.

"As the fire started to spread despite our attempts to douse it, we ran for cover and in a few minutes the blaze engulfed the entire third and fourth floors and gutted almost all machines and fabrics," Quality Inspector of Envoy Garments Ltd Mohammad Rony told The Daily Star.

Factory workers said a number of them suffered injuries when they tried to rush out using the staircase where some of their colleagues had already piled fabrics in order to save those from the fire.

Eleven fire engines from Ramna, Tejgaon and Khilgaon stations rushed to the scene and brought the flames under control in one hour.

Managing Director of Envoy Garments Ltd Abdus Salam Murshedi alleged that the firefighters took a long time to arrive at the spot. He claimed his workers had already extinguished the fire before the firefighters arrived.

Deputy Director (operation and maintenance) of Fire Service and Civil Defence Sheikh Mohammad Mizanur Rahman said heavy traffic was the reason behind their delayed arrival. He also said they could not go upstairs quickly enough as the staircase was blocked with piles of fabric.

A large number of policemen, Rapid Action Battalion and army personnel had rushed to the scene soon after the fire broke out.