Deadly Garment Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Takes a Minimum of 16 Victims
No fewer than 16 people have died after a enormous fire erupted at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the fatality count could climb.
16 bodies have been recovered but were burned unrecognizable, the firefighters reported.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-storey factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on that day in looking for their family members still unaccounted for.
The blaze, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after multiple hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse kept burning, authorities confirmed.
Up 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 caught fire first.
Based on eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse contained chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and chemical peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also releases hazardous smoke when ignited.
Police and military officers are still searching for the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the fire service official told journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also ongoing, he added.
Weeping family members gathered outside the burned 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 have been unable to find her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time underscored the security issues affecting Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which employs millions of workers and is a major source of export earnings for the South Asian economy.
