Devastating Clothing Factory Blaze in Bangladesh Has Taken at Least 16 Fatalities
A minimum of 16 individuals have perished after a enormous fire started at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the fatality count could climb.
Sixteen bodies have been found but were charred unrecognizable, the fire department stated.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-storey factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on that day in search of their dear ones still unaccounted for.
The inferno, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was put out after several hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse continued to burn, authorities reported.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, news sources said.
Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings ignited initially.
Based on witnesses, the chemical warehouse housed chemical bleaching agents, plastic and industrial peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Plastic also produces hazardous smoke when combusted.
Security personnel are still searching for the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the department director briefed journalists.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he noted.
Tearful family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Present at the scene is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his family member.
"When I learned of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he told journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has once again emphasized the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which provides jobs for countless of workers and is a major contributor to export earnings for the South Asian economy.
