DHAKA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A fire broke out at a 19-story commercial-cum-residential building in Dhaka's Banani area on Monday afternoon with no immediate reports of casualties.
Hundreds of people trapped inside the building were safely evacuated.
The fire razed several floors of the building, destroying valuable documents, said a police official on the spot.
He said the fire was noticed at around 3 p.m. local time (0900 GMT) and 16 units of firefighters doused the fire an hour later.
TV footage showed thick black smoke billowed from the building, Bashati Horizon, into the air. The fire drew thousands of onlookers.
Casualties and the cause of the fire were yet to be known.
