DHAKA, 26 February 2006 — At least 18 people were killed and 45 injured as a building collapsed here yesterday.

The five-story building undergoing renovations collapsed over factory workers in an industrial zone in the Bangladeshi capital, officials said.

Witnesses said hundreds of people could be trapped under the fallen building which housed a ready-made apparel factory.

Soldiers, police, fire officials and hundreds of volunteers rushed to the scene to pull out victims trapped under the caved-in Phoenix Building. “So far 18 people are dead and 45 are injured,” army general Nizam Ahmed, who was supervising the rescue effort, said.

Ahmed said the 20,000-square-foot building crumbled because of “structural failure” and the floors caved in one after another in fast sequence. Rescuers were using bulldozers and cutters to break through and reach those trapped by heavy slabs of concrete which were being shifted by cranes.

The building housed street-level shops and small offices while laborers were working to turn several upper floors into a private hospital. A garment factory moved out of the building recently after its owners decided to turn the building into a hospital, police chief Kamrul Islam said. Many construction workers were inside the building at the time of the collapse but he had no idea exact how many, he said.

“I was working on the third floor when I suddenly heard a loud noise and the floor starting to collapse beneath me in a storm of dust,” said laborer Bhopal Hawlader.

Hawlader, who suffered chest injuries and was speaking from his hospital bed, said there were scores of workers inside the building at the time of the collapse.

Sohel Sarder, a mason rescued from the debris by firefighters, said around 200 people were working on the building’s renovation and most were trapped inside after the collapse.

Concrete fell onto the footpath and shanties built adjacent to the building, injuring several people.

Joynal Abedin, 22, a cigarette vendor pulled unhurt from the debris by troops after five hours, said one part of the building fell on the shanty where he lived with his cousin.

“There was a huge noise and a dust storm. Soon enough everything became dark. I thought I was in a grave,” Abedin said.

“I cried for help and Allah listened to my call,” he said, but added he feared his cousin was still trapped in the debris.

Some rescuers were frantically tugging at the wreckage with bare hands as relatives of the missing looked on anxiously.

“We can hear noises of cries for help,” firefighter Nazrul Islam said.

Dr. Nilima Ferdousi at Dhaka Medical College where casualties were being taken said at least 30 of the injured “are in very serious condition” with most having fractures and some limbs that were nearly severed.

The building caved in at about 10 a.m. yesterday morning as work was in full swing. Although Saturday is a holiday in Bangladesh, many businesses keep operating throughout the weekend.

“I was out fetching tea for my shop owner. As I was coming back I saw the building caving in,” said Shahidul Islam, a tea boy at the building.