Dhaka, Nov. 30 -- A fire has sparked in a new building of the Secretariat, the nerve centre of Bangladesh's administration, stirring panic among officials and staff as they heard the fire alarm, saw smoke, and ran out of the building.

Smoke could be seen billowing out of the new building (Building No. 1) around 2:30pm on Sunday. Simultaneously, the fire alarm started going off across the building. The fire that started at the ninth floor was brought under control soon afterwards.

An official named Shafiqul Kabir told bdnews24.com, "I saw smoke coming out of the ninth floor a few minutes after the fire alarm went off. I realised what had happened and rushed downstairs immediately."

All gates to the Secretariat were closed down, apart fr...