Devastating Apparel Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Takes no Fewer than 16 Lives
A minimum of 16 people have died after a enormous fire erupted at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with officials stating that the number of victims could climb.
Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were incinerated impossible to identify, the fire department reported.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-level factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for 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, officials reported.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, media reports said.
Emergency responders have not ascertained which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse contained bleaching powder, plastic materials and industrial peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Plastic also produces poisonous gases when combusted.
Security personnel are still trying to locate the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the department director informed journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he added.
Weeping family members gathered outside the charred buildings, many of them holding photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Among them is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I came running. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my daughter back," he told journalists.
The devastating event has yet again underscored the safety concerns affecting Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which provides jobs for numerous of workers and is a crucial source of foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
