Deadly Garment Factory Fire in Bangladesh Takes a Minimum of 16 Victims
At least 16 individuals have perished after a enormous fire started at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the fatality count could rise.
Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were incinerated impossible to identify, the firefighters reported.
Heartbroken relatives assembled outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in search of their loved ones still unaccounted for.
The inferno, which erupted at the factory around lunchtime, was brought under control after multiple hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse kept burning, emergency services reported.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources indicated.
Fire department authorities have not established which of the two buildings was the origin point.
According to witnesses, the chemical warehouse contained chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Polymer products also produces poisonous gases when ignited.
Security personnel are still trying to locate the owners of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the fire service official briefed the media.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also in progress, he noted.
Crying family members gathered outside the burned buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their missing relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I was informed of the fire, I came running. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my loved one back," he expressed to reporters.
The tragic incident has once again highlighted the safety concerns affecting Bangladesh's clothing sector, which provides jobs for numerous of workers and is a crucial contributor to foreign revenue for the nation.
