Devastating Apparel Factory Fire in Bangladesh Claims a Minimum of 16 Lives
A minimum of 16 persons have died after a huge fire started at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the fatality count could rise.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were burned beyond recognition, the fire department reported.
Grief-stricken relatives assembled outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their family members still missing.
The fire, which broke out at the factory around lunchtime, was put out after several hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse remained ablaze, authorities confirmed.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, journalistic accounts said.
Emergency responders have not ascertained which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per witnesses, the chemical warehouse housed chemical bleaching agents, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also emits toxic fumes when ignited.
Police and military officers are still trying to locate the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the fire service official told the media.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Tearful family members waited outside the burned buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man searching desperately for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I learned of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my daughter back," he told news media.
The tragic incident has another time highlighted the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which engages numerous of workers and is a crucial source of export earnings for the South Asian economy.
