Tragic Clothing Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Has Taken a Minimum of 16 Victims
No fewer than 16 individuals have perished after a massive fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with authorities warning that the fatality count could rise.
A total of sixteen bodies have been recovered but were incinerated impossible to identify, the fire service said.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-level factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in looking for their family members still not found.
The blaze, which broke out at the factory around midday, was extinguished after three hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials said.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, journalistic accounts indicated.
Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings ignited initially.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed industrial bleaches, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also releases hazardous smoke when burned.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the fire service official informed the media.
An probe on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also ongoing, he noted.
Crying family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their lost relatives.
Present at the scene is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he stated to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has yet again emphasized the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages numerous of workers and is a crucial provider of foreign revenue for the country.
