Ammon News - Hundreds of Bangladeshi firefighters battled a huge blaze at a popular clothing market in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday.

No casualties have been reported so far, but shop owners and fire officials told reporters that the Bongo Bazar market and three adjacent commercial precincts had been almost completely gutted.

"Some 600 firefighters are working to bring the fire under control," fire department spokesman Rakibul Islam told AFP. He said the blaze began around dawn.

A military spokesman said in a statement that an air force helicopter had joined the firefighting effort.

Aerial footage from the chopper showed hundreds of people watching the fire from a nearby overpass.

The market is a popular destination for cut-price Western fashion brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, selling clothes that were produced in the city's garment factories but failed to meet export standards.