Fire doused at Banani building

The fire that broke out at a five-storey building in the capital's Banani area on Saturday morning has finally been extinguished after hours of effort from 10 units of the fire service.

Three units of the Bangladesh Army and the Bangladesh Air Force fire services worked alongside the fire service to extinguish the fire.

Lt Col Zillur Rahman, director of operation Fire Service and Civil Defence, said, "We rushed to the spot as soon as we were informed. The buildings here are close together with very little space between and this one was built before Bangladesh National Building Code 2006 passed. So fire services could not reach the tight space immediately.

"Three rescue teams entered the floors around 1pm. There was a lot of wood and machines which fueled the fire. There have been no injuries reported," he added.

According to witnesses, there were around 35 people in the shop where the fire began but everyone got out. 

One was given some primary aid for breathing issues.

Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam came to the spot and told the media, "The building is quite old and it did not follow the building code. All the stores of this building will not get their trade licences renewed till the building authorities renovate the building as per the code."

According to the Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters sources, the fire originated at the storehouse-cum-showroom of Amicon on the second floor of the building at Banani Chairman Bari area around 9:10 am.

Earlier in May, a fire broke out on the second floor of a building located at Banani 11 which affected mainly the office space belonging to Fair Group.