Deadly Clothing Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Has Taken at Least 16 Victims
No fewer than 16 people have lost their lives after a massive fire broke out at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services stating that the death toll could increase.
A total of sixteen bodies have been recovered but were burned impossible to identify, the fire department stated.
Grief-stricken relatives assembled outside the multi-story factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their dear ones still not found.
The fire, which broke out at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after several hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse continued to burn, authorities said.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, news sources reported.
Emergency responders have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
According to eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse contained industrial bleaches, plastic materials and industrial peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also emits poisonous gases when ignited.
Police and military officers are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the fire service official told journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also in progress, he mentioned.
Crying family members gathered outside the burned buildings, many of them holding photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Present at the scene is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to news media.
The catastrophic occurrence has yet again underscored the safety concerns plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which employs millions of workers and is a major contributor to export earnings for the country.
