Sri Lankan man among 7 dead in Bangladesh high-rise building fire

Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-28 21:54:02|Editor: xuxin
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DHAKA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A Sri Lankan man was among seven people killed in a massive fire that engulfed a high-rise building in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka on Thursday, a police official said.

The majority of deaths resulted from smoke inhalation and injuries sustained after falling from upper floors, Forman Ali, officer-in-charge of Banani Police Station, told reporters.

"Seven people including the Sri Lankan national have been killed," he added.

The Sri Lankan man sustained serious injuries as he jumped off the building to escape the fire and died before he was rushed to the hospital.

The fire was brought under control at around 6:00 p.m. local time.

The blaze started on its seventh floor of the 22-storey FR Tower housing offices, TV and radio stations and restaurants at around 1:00 p.m. local time on Thursday.

Some 100 people were rushed to different city hospitals with injuries.

A Fire Service official said they managed to rescue dozens of people trapped in the building's upper floors.

Mizanur Rahman, a fire department control room official, told Xinhua that as many as 21 fire-fighting units were battling the blaze.

It was not clear how many people were inside the building when it caught fire. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

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