Deadly Garment Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Has Taken at Least 16 Lives
At least 16 persons have perished after a enormous fire erupted at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the fatality count could rise.
Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were burned unrecognizable, the fire service stated.
Grief-stricken relatives assembled outside the four-level factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their loved ones still unaccounted for.
The blaze, which started at the factory around midday, was brought under control after multiple hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse kept burning, emergency services confirmed.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, journalistic accounts indicated.
Fire service officials have not ascertained which of the two buildings caught fire first.
According to bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Polymer products also emits toxic fumes when combusted.
Police and military officers are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury informed reporters.
An probe on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also in progress, he noted.
Crying family members gathered outside the charred buildings, many of them holding photographs of their missing relatives.
Among them is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I came running. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to reporters.
The tragic incident has another time emphasized the security issues facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages millions of workers and is a major provider of foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
