Devastating Garment Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Has Taken at Least 16 Victims
At least 16 persons have perished after a enormous fire started at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the death toll could climb.
A total of sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were incinerated unrecognizable, the firefighters reported.
Heartbroken relatives gathered outside the four-level factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in seeking their family members still unaccounted for.
The fire, which broke out at the factory around lunchtime, was put out after several hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse continued to burn, emergency services said.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, media reports said.
Fire department authorities have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
According to bystanders, the chemical warehouse contained industrial bleaches, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Polymer products also releases poisonous gases when combusted.
Security personnel are still searching for the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the fire service official informed journalists.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also in progress, he added.
Weeping family members gathered outside the burned buildings, many of them holding photographs of their missing relatives.
Among them is a man looking frantically for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my daughter back," he told journalists.
The devastating event has another time underscored the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which engages numerous of workers and is a crucial contributor to export earnings for the nation.
