Deadly Clothing Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Fatalities
A minimum of 16 individuals have lost their lives after a massive fire started at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the fatality count could climb.
Sixteen bodies have been found but were burned beyond recognition, the firefighters said.
Distraught relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their dear ones still missing.
The blaze, which broke out at the factory around midday, was put out after three hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse continued to burn, authorities said.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, journalistic accounts indicated.
Fire department authorities have not determined which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Based on bystanders, the chemical warehouse contained industrial bleaches, plastic and chemical peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also releases hazardous smoke when ignited.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury briefed the media.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he noted.
Crying family members waited outside the charred buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.
Among them is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I was informed of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he told reporters.
The tragic incident has yet again emphasized the safety concerns facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages millions of workers and is a crucial contributor to foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
