The fire incident left 70 people hurt.

As per Bangladesh media reports, the deceased people included a Sri Lankan citizen.

The fire broke out on the eighth floor of the 22-storey building on Banani Road 17 around 1:00pm and engulfed other floors immediately, reported The Daily Star.

The cause of the blaze is still not known.

The fire was brought under control around 4:45pm, said Farid Uddin, a duty officer of the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters told the Bangladesh-based newspaper.

21 firefighting units were engaged in bringing the flames under control and even to rescue people trapped in the building.

Later, the Army, Navy and Air forces also joined the operation.

Helicopters were seen spraying water on the building and firefighters were bringing people out the window panes in groups, using ladders, reported The Daily Star.

Six of the deceased were identified as Parvex Sazzad, 47, Amen Yasmin, 30, Masud 36, Niras Chandra, 30, Abdullah Al Faroque, 32, Maksudur, 36, and Manir 50, reported the newspaper.

Niras Chandra has been identified by the local newspaper as a Sri Lankan national.

Meanwhile, family members have assembled at the spot to contact their near and dear ones who were trapped in the building.

One such aggrieved mother told The Daily Star that her daughter Aparajita Barua works in an office on the 12th floor of the building.

“During our last contact, she told us there were huge fumes in the building and that she was finding it difficult to breathe. Now, we can’t reach her on the phone,” she said.

Some victims even reportedly jumped to death from the building to save themselves. 

Images: Xinhua/UNI