Devastating Clothing Factory Fire in Bangladesh Takes a Minimum of 16 Victims
A minimum of 16 persons have perished after a huge fire started at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the number of victims could rise.
16 bodies have been recovered but were burned impossible to identify, the fire department said.
Heartbroken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in search of their family members still not found.
The blaze, which broke out at the factory around midday, was brought under control after multiple hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse continued to burn, emergency services confirmed.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, news sources indicated.
Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings ignited initially.
According to eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse contained chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also releases poisonous gases when burned.
Security personnel are still attempting to find the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury told the media.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he noted.
Crying family members stood outside the charred buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their missing relatives.
Among them is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my loved one back," he stated to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time highlighted the safety concerns affecting Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages numerous of workers and is a significant contributor to economic income for the country.
