Deadly Clothing Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Lives
A minimum of 16 individuals have lost their lives after a enormous fire erupted at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the death toll could rise.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were burned beyond recognition, the fire service stated.
Distraught relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in seeking their loved ones still not found.
The blaze, which broke out at the factory around noon, was extinguished after multiple hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse continued to burn, emergency services said.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources said.
Fire service officials have not determined which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Based on bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed industrial bleaches, plastic and industrial peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Polymer products also emits toxic fumes when burned.
Security personnel are still searching for the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the department director told journalists.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also ongoing, he added.
Weeping family members waited outside the charred buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Present at the scene is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I was informed of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my loved one back," he told news media.
The catastrophic occurrence has yet again underscored the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's garment industry, which provides jobs for countless of workers and is a significant provider of export earnings for the country.
