Deadly Apparel Factory Blaze in Bangladesh Takes at Least 16 Victims
A minimum of 16 persons have perished after a enormous fire started at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the fatality count could climb.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were incinerated impossible to identify, the fire department said.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-storey factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday in seeking their dear ones still missing.
The blaze, which started at the factory around midday, was put out after multiple hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse kept burning, emergency services reported.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, journalistic accounts indicated.
Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings ignited initially.
According to eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse housed chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Plastic also emits toxic fumes when ignited.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the department director briefed journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also in progress, he noted.
Crying family members waited outside the burned buildings, many of them holding photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Present at the scene is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my child back," he stated to news media.
The devastating event has another time emphasized the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which employs numerous of workers and is a crucial provider of export earnings for the nation.
