<p class="title">The death toll from a terrifying blaze that ripped through a Bangladesh high-rise rose on Friday to 25, as authorities vowed tough action to improve safety standards.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The latest fire to hit Bangladesh's congested capital Dhaka tore through the 22-storey FR Tower on Thursday, leaving some of the hundreds trapped inside screaming for help as horrified onlookers massed outside.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Some of those stuck inside made it to safety by sliding down cables on the side of the building, but others took their chances and jumped in a bid to escape the smoke and heat.</p>.<p class="bodytext">At least six people including a Sri Lankan national died in this way, officials said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Firefighters backed by military specialists -- some in helicopters -- tackled the flames, lowering ropes to help people escape, while rescuers on long ladders smashed through windows.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But fire fighters were hampered by not having ladder cranes big enough to reach the top floors, officials said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The fire was later extinguished and on Friday fire fighters completed the process of combing through the gutted and blackened floors of the building.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The fire department initially put the death toll at 19 but police said Friday that six more had perished. Another was in a critical state in hospital.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There was no immediate indication if others are missing, but more than 70 people were treated in hospital in the wake of the blaze.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Fire disasters regularly hit Bangladesh's major cities where safety standards are notoriously lax.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Last month at least 70 people were killed in Dhaka apartment buildings where chemicals that were being illegally stored exploded -- unleashing a blaze that took more than 12 hours to control.</p>.<p class="bodytext">An even bigger tragedy was narrowly avoided, with investigators finding hundreds of chemicals drums in one of five blocks engulfed by the fire which could easily had exploded.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Following Thursday's fire, in the upmarket Banani commercial district, authorities have ordered a probe into claims that the building lacked fire equipment, its fire exits were inadequate and it had been illegally extended.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Police said that they wanted to interview the owner of the office block, with Housing Minister Rezaul Karim saying a murder case would be filed against those to blame for the tragedy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Definitely this is murder. It is not an accident. (A) Murder case will be filed against those who are responsible. Nobody will escape the law," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The mayor of Dhaka north, Atiqul Islam, promised a "zero tolerance" policy in building safety, especially in high-rise buildings.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Now it's time for action. We have sent notices to building owners asking for their legal documents on fire safety," he told reporters while visiting the site of the blaze.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to a 2012 study by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, most high-rise buildings in 15-million-strong Dhaka have inadequate fire safety measures.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We found only two buildings fully compliant," BUET professor Mehedi Ahmed Ansari said of the survey on 112 buildings, adding that some they looked at were little more than "death traps".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Fire department director Shakil Newaj said they had warned the FR Tower management to improve fire safety standards, but they did not pay heed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Fire safety measures in the building were very weak. There were no sprinklers. Fire exits existed only in name," Newaj told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A June 2010 fire in the nearby neighbourhood of Nimtoli, one of the most densely populated districts of the capital, killed 123 people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In November 2012, a fire swept through a nine-story garment factory near Dhaka killing 111 workers. An investigation found it was caused by sabotage and that managers at the plant had prevented victims from escaping.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Experts said inspections of buildings in the city frequently found fire stairs blocked with stored goods and exit doors locked.</p>
<p class="title">The death toll from a terrifying blaze that ripped through a Bangladesh high-rise rose on Friday to 25, as authorities vowed tough action to improve safety standards.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The latest fire to hit Bangladesh's congested capital Dhaka tore through the 22-storey FR Tower on Thursday, leaving some of the hundreds trapped inside screaming for help as horrified onlookers massed outside.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Some of those stuck inside made it to safety by sliding down cables on the side of the building, but others took their chances and jumped in a bid to escape the smoke and heat.</p>.<p class="bodytext">At least six people including a Sri Lankan national died in this way, officials said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Firefighters backed by military specialists -- some in helicopters -- tackled the flames, lowering ropes to help people escape, while rescuers on long ladders smashed through windows.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But fire fighters were hampered by not having ladder cranes big enough to reach the top floors, officials said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The fire was later extinguished and on Friday fire fighters completed the process of combing through the gutted and blackened floors of the building.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The fire department initially put the death toll at 19 but police said Friday that six more had perished. Another was in a critical state in hospital.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There was no immediate indication if others are missing, but more than 70 people were treated in hospital in the wake of the blaze.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Fire disasters regularly hit Bangladesh's major cities where safety standards are notoriously lax.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Last month at least 70 people were killed in Dhaka apartment buildings where chemicals that were being illegally stored exploded -- unleashing a blaze that took more than 12 hours to control.</p>.<p class="bodytext">An even bigger tragedy was narrowly avoided, with investigators finding hundreds of chemicals drums in one of five blocks engulfed by the fire which could easily had exploded.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Following Thursday's fire, in the upmarket Banani commercial district, authorities have ordered a probe into claims that the building lacked fire equipment, its fire exits were inadequate and it had been illegally extended.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Police said that they wanted to interview the owner of the office block, with Housing Minister Rezaul Karim saying a murder case would be filed against those to blame for the tragedy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Definitely this is murder. It is not an accident. (A) Murder case will be filed against those who are responsible. Nobody will escape the law," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The mayor of Dhaka north, Atiqul Islam, promised a "zero tolerance" policy in building safety, especially in high-rise buildings.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Now it's time for action. We have sent notices to building owners asking for their legal documents on fire safety," he told reporters while visiting the site of the blaze.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to a 2012 study by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, most high-rise buildings in 15-million-strong Dhaka have inadequate fire safety measures.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We found only two buildings fully compliant," BUET professor Mehedi Ahmed Ansari said of the survey on 112 buildings, adding that some they looked at were little more than "death traps".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Fire department director Shakil Newaj said they had warned the FR Tower management to improve fire safety standards, but they did not pay heed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Fire safety measures in the building were very weak. There were no sprinklers. Fire exits existed only in name," Newaj told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A June 2010 fire in the nearby neighbourhood of Nimtoli, one of the most densely populated districts of the capital, killed 123 people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In November 2012, a fire swept through a nine-story garment factory near Dhaka killing 111 workers. An investigation found it was caused by sabotage and that managers at the plant had prevented victims from escaping.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Experts said inspections of buildings in the city frequently found fire stairs blocked with stored goods and exit doors locked.</p>