Assistant Divisional Officer Kenneth Fraser, of Tayside Fire Brigade, said, “When our crews arrived it was reported there was a fire in a top-floor flat and firefighters were deployed to tackle it.

“Other flats in the block were checked to ensure the safety of the occupants. The fire was extinguished and the flats vented.

“The fire was located principally in the bathroom and the hallway of the flat. The cause is now under investigation.”

Police later confirmed a man had died at the scene and they were attempting to trace next of kin. No further details would be released until that process is concluded.

Tayside police officers set up a cordon around the scene to allow a forensic examination to take place.

Strathmartine Road between the Fiveways roundabout at Coldside and the junctions with Wedderburn Street/Francis Street were closed off to traffic.

Resident Kevin Donaldson, whose flat in Wedderburn Street looks over the fire scene, said, “I didn’t actually see smoke, but I watched as the police arrived.

“The fire brigade was already there and an ambulance arrived not long after. It is a tragic thing which could happen to anybody, in any close, and it so easily could have been your own family.”

Raymond Hood, whose flat overlooks the scene, said, “The paramedics went in for a while, then came back down.”

Mr Hood added, “We never saw anybody come down with them and they went away themselves.”

Workers in Jackson Gray Hair and Beauty, situated on the opposite corner from where the tragedy occurred, said they saw firefighters hoisted up to the top flat by the aerial ladder platform. One of the workers said, “I saw the window being opened and smoke started belching out.”

One of his colleagues added, “We saw the paramedics go in and return empty handed.”