Deadly Apparel Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Takes at Least 16 Victims
No fewer than 16 people have perished after a huge fire erupted at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with officials stating that the number of victims could rise.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were charred unrecognizable, the fire service reported.
Grief-stricken relatives assembled outside the four-level factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in seeking their loved ones still missing.
The fire, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after multiple hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, emergency services reported.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, media reports said.
Emergency responders have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Based on eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse housed bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Polymer products also releases poisonous gases when burned.
Police and military officers are still searching for the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury briefed the media.
An probe on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also ongoing, he noted.
Tearful family members gathered outside the burned buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their missing relatives.
Among them is a man searching desperately for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still haven't found her... I just want my child back," he expressed to journalists.
The tragic incident has once again emphasized the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which provides jobs for millions of workers and is a significant source of foreign revenue for the nation.
