National emergency service – 999 – has been suspended due to the massive fire at Bangabazar in the capital, said Police Headquarters.

It also requested people to contact local police stations or fire stations in case of emergency.

The massive fire broke out at Bangabazar market in Dhaka around 6:10 am on Tuesday and spread soon.

The blaze was brought under control around 12:36 pm, said Anwarul Islam, warehouse inspector of Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters.

However, black smoke is still coming out from different places and firefighters were still working to fully douse the fire, he said.

Fifty firefighting units were engaged in extinguishing the blaze.

However, what caused the fire could not be known yet.

At least five people fell sick while trying to extinguish the fire.