Deadly Clothing Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Has Taken a Minimum of 16 Victims
A minimum of 16 people have died after a massive fire broke out at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the death toll could climb.
16 bodies have been recovered but were incinerated impossible to identify, the firefighters reported.
Grief-stricken relatives gathered outside the four-storey factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in looking for their dear ones still not found.
The blaze, which erupted at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials reported.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources indicated.
Fire service officials have not ascertained which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Per witnesses, the chemical warehouse stored chemical bleaching agents, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Polymer products also releases hazardous smoke when ignited.
Security personnel are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury briefed journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also in progress, he added.
Weeping family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.
Present at the scene is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I was informed of the fire, I rushed here. But I still haven't found her... I just want my loved one back," he expressed to journalists.
The devastating event has once again emphasized the safety concerns facing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which provides jobs for millions of workers and is a crucial source of foreign revenue for the nation.
