Fire engulfs TV HQ building in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Feb 26 (Reuters) At least three people died and dozens were injured today in a fire that raged through a multi-storied building in the Bangladesh capital housing two private television channels and a newspaper office.

Two of the victims died of burn injuries in hospital while another died after leaping from the sixth floor of the building to escape the flames, doctors and witnesses said.

More than a hundred people have already been rescued, but still many were feared still trapped, including in the lifts.

Witnesses said fire fighters and airforce helicopters were still trying in the early afternoon 1345 hrs GMT to put out the blaze and rescue an unspecified number of people stranded inside. Army, police and the elite Rapid Action Battalion force had joined the rescue effort.

The cause of the fire and extent of damage caused was not immediately known.

Witnesses said thousands of people thronged the roads around the 11-storey building more than four hours after the blaze started.

''The fire is still raging inside,'' a fire fighter said, as thick smoke billowed into the sky.

The building, in the Kawranbazar business district of Dhaka, houses NTV and Rtv stations and the Amar Desh newspaper -- all owned by a former member of parliament.

Survivors said around 2,500 people work in the building on normal work days.

The building also houses at least half a dozen other commercial and business offices.

REUTERS PB BST1431