Devastating Garment Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Claims a Minimum of 16 Victims
At least 16 people have died after a huge fire erupted at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with officials warning that the fatality count could increase.
A total of sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were charred beyond recognition, the fire department stated.
Heartbroken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in search of their family members still unaccounted for.
The fire, which erupted at the factory around midday, was extinguished after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials said.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, journalistic accounts indicated.
Emergency responders have not ascertained which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per witnesses, the chemical warehouse contained industrial bleaches, synthetic polymers and industrial peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also releases poisonous gases when combusted.
Security personnel are still attempting to find the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury informed journalists.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he noted.
Crying family members stood outside the charred buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their lost relatives.
Among them is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his family member.
"When I heard about the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still haven't found her... I just want my loved one back," he told reporters.
The catastrophic occurrence has yet again underscored the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which engages numerous of workers and is a crucial provider of export earnings for the South Asian economy.
