Firefighters, the unsung heroes during crisis, Bailey Road fire survivor says in heartfelt Facebook post

The fire that engulfed a multistorey building in Dhaka's Bailey Road killed at least 46 people. But around 70 people were also rescued owing to the swift response of the fire service.

Taking to Facebook, one such survivor, Prothit Shams, wrote, "I want to take a moment and thank Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defence for saving my life yesterday."

Prothit Shams recounted his experience, writing, "I was stuck on the 8th floor of the building that caught on fire in Bailey Road for 2 hours. There were about 20 of us stuck on the 8th floor, at first we were all trying to remain calm and figure out a way out but there was no fire escape and the staircase was burning in flames and our floor was filled with black smoke, we were barely able to breathe.

"We took refuge in the kitchen as it was the only place at that time with the least amount of smoke.

"I saw people jumping from the floor above us and what I saw next was just traumatising, people were caught in flames and I could do nothing to help them, at that moment I thought the fire would soon reach us as well."

He wrote that as the fumes started increasing, Shams could feel himself burning up internally.

For the moment, he thought this was it.

However, after some quick thinking, he, along with another person, came up with a way to reach the nearest balcony. After handing over water bottles to everyone there to reduce the effects of the smoke, they managed to get on the balcony and to grab the attention of the firefighters carrying out the rescue operation, wrote Prothit.

"The two firemen that saved us were the bravest people I ever met in my life, they were so composed and handled us with the utmost care when they were taking us on to the crane. I held that fireman and I just cried and thanked him for saving me," he added.