One killed after fire breaks out in Gulshan building

A man was killed after a fire broke out at a residential building in Dhaka's Gulshan-2 this evening.

Ashish Biswas, in charge of customer care at Banani Clinic, said a man died after he was brought in by the fire service. He said the body was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in one of their ambulances.

Inspector Bachchu Mia, in-charge of Dhaka Medical College Hospital Police Outpost, said the body of the male reached DMCH.

The deceased was identified by his relatives as Anwar, aged around 30.

Sources said the man was one of the three people who jumped off a balcony of the building.

Nineteen fire engines were trying to douse the blaze that began around 7:00pm on the sixth floor of the 12-storey building on Road-104, said Khaleda Yeasmin, duty officer of Fire Service Control Room. The fire was under control as of 11:00pm.

Firefighters rescued 22 people -- nine men, 12 women, and one child -- from the building, Shajahan Sikder, assistant deputy director of fire service, told The Daily Star.

At least three people jumped off the 11th floor of the building, reports our correspondent from the spot.

The three have been sent to hospitals in ambulances.

Many trapped in the building were seeking help standing at their windows.

A team from the Bangladesh army was deployed for the rescue operation, said a release from Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The cause of the fire could not be known immediately.