A five-storey building undergoing renovations collapsed in the Bangladeshi capital yesterday, killing at least 18 people and injuring 45. Soldiers, police, fire officials and hundreds of volunteers rushed to the scene to pull out victims trapped under the caved-in Phoenix Building in the city's congested industrial area. "We have got 18 people dead and 45 injured so far," army general Nizam Ahmed, who was supervising the rescue operations, said.

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 a garment-making outlet and street-level shops and construction labourers were working on several upper floors to turn them into a private hospital.

Police said many workers were inside the building at the time of the collapse but had no exact tally.

"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 construction labourer Bhopal Hawlader.

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

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

"We can hear noises of cries for help," fireman Nazrul Islam said.

A doctor at Dhaka Medical College where casualties were being taken said at least 30 of the injured people "are in very serious condition."

"Thirteen have been taken to the operating room," said emergency room doctor Nilima Ferdousi, adding most of the injured had fractures and some had limbs that were nearly severed.

Witnesses said passing pedestrians were also among the victims, which included dozens of injured who were taken to hospital.

Rescuers feared a dozen slum-dwellers, mainly family members of day labourers who were working elsewhere at the time, were trapped inside.

Soldiers and firemen used bulldozers, hammers and crowbars to clear and sift through the rubble of the building looking for survivors or bodies.

Many of the injured survivors may need to have their legs or hands amputated, physician Munir Hossain, who treated a dozen of those critically injured at a nearby hospital, said.

Witnesses estimated there were about 100 people inside the building when it collapsed, some of them operating small convenience shops on the ground floor.

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