Devastating Garment Factory Fire in Bangladesh Claims a Minimum of 16 Lives
No fewer than 16 individuals have lost their lives after a enormous fire broke out at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the fatality count could increase.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were incinerated impossible to identify, the firefighters said.
Grief-stricken relatives gathered outside the four-level factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on that day in looking for their loved ones still unaccounted for.
The blaze, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was put out after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, authorities confirmed.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, news sources indicated.
Emergency responders have not established which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse stored chemical bleaching agents, plastic and chemical peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Plastic also releases poisonous gases when combusted.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury told journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he added.
Weeping family members gathered outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their lost relatives.
Among them is a man searching desperately for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I heard about the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my loved one back," he stated to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has yet again emphasized the safety concerns plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which employs numerous of workers and is a major provider of foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
