Devastating Clothing Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Takes at Least 16 Victims
No fewer than 16 people have lost their lives after a massive fire started at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the number of victims could climb.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were charred impossible to identify, the firefighters stated.
Distraught relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in seeking their dear ones still unaccounted for.
The blaze, which broke out at the factory around noon, was extinguished after several hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse continued to burn, emergency services reported.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, media reports said.
Fire department authorities have not established which of the two buildings ignited initially.
Based on bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed bleaching powder, plastic and chemical peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Plastic also produces toxic fumes when burned.
Security personnel are still attempting to find the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director informed reporters.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he added.
Tearful family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their lost relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my daughter back," he told news media.
The catastrophic occurrence has once again underscored the safety concerns affecting Bangladesh's garment industry, which provides jobs for numerous of workers and is a major contributor to export earnings for the nation.
