Monim Jamaddar's phone rang amidst the chaos in front of the hotel in flames. His father Miron's panicked voice on the other end said, "I'm trapped inside. Smoke is everywhere. I can't find a way out."

Monim then asked his father to go to the roof but then the line went dead.

A short while later, firefighters recovered Miron's body from the third floor of Saudia Residential Hotel in Gulshan's Shahjadpur yesterday.

The fire spread through the multi-storey hotel, killing four people, said Monir Hossain, senior station officer of Baridhara Fire Service.

Firefighters recovered a body from a bathroom on the third floor and three others from the fifth floor near the staircase leading to the roof.

"It is assumed that the three victims on the fifth floor tried to reach the roof for safety but found the door locked. All four appeared to have died from smoke inhalation," Monir said.

The fire broke out on the first floor of the six-storey building around 12:30pm, said Talha Bin Jashim, an official of the fire service's media wing. Two fire engines from Baridhara Fire Station could bring the blaze under control by 1:04pm.

The fire originated in a beauty parlour, Golden Tulip Lounge, located on the first floor. An air conditioner, which was being repaired at the time, was the likely source of the fire, Monir added.

Among the dead was Miron Jamaddar, 55, from Bhandaria in Pirojpur. His son, Monim, was preparing to leave for Saudi Arabia today. Another deceased was Ishraful, 40, who worked at a travel agency in the Narda area.

"I was supposed to fly tomorrow evening," Monim told The Daily Star at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where the bodies were sent for autopsies. "My father and uncle came from our village this [yesterday] morning and checked into Room-402 of the Saudia Residential Hotel."

Monim, who came to Dhaka two days ago and was in Rampura, went to the hotel upon hearing of his father's arrival. When he reached the scene, he saw that smoke was billowing out of the ground floor. Panicked, he called his father.

"He answered, crying," Monim said. "I told him to go to the roof. That was the last time we spoke."

Talking to this newspaper, Hiron Talukdar, Miron's brother-in-law, "After checking into the hotel, we went out for breakfast. He returned to the hotel while I was behind. Then I saw the fire and ran downstairs. The entire building was filled with smoke."

The identities of two other victims, aged between 30 and 40, could not be known immediately, police said.

During a visit, The Daily Star learnt that the six-storey building is owned by one Jahirul Islam Majumder. The ground floor housed three shops, the first floor the beauty parlour, and the hotel occupied the third to the sixth floors.

The parlour was burnt. The ground floor was partly affected.

Locals said people, mostly those travelling to foreign countries and their family members, used to stay in the hotel.

Jahirul and hotel owner Anik could not be reached for comments, as their phones were found switched off.

Obaidur Rahman, proprietor of a furniture shop located on the ground floor, said people could not leave the building as the staircase was engulfed in smoke.

Mokhlesur Rahman, inspector (investigation) of Gulshan Police Station, said that when they reached the scene, they neither saw the beauty parlour employees nor anyone from the hotel.

Kazi Nazmuzamman, assistant director of the fire service (Dhaka zone), said, "As the hotel was filled with smoke, the victims tried to go to the roof. But its door was locked."

Asked about the building's compliance with regulations and fire safety measures, he said that it was not built according to Rajuk guidelines.

"The building had no fire safety plan or firefighting system. The staircase was narrow, and the windows were small and closed. If those windows had been opened, the smoke could have escaped outside."

Contacted, the parlour owner, Sadia Afrin, who lives in Rajshahi, told this newspaper that her parlour, which has been closed for a long time, was opened yesterday to hand over its ownership to a buyer. 

She added that three staffers of the parlour escaped the building without any injury.