Deadly Clothing Factory Fire in Bangladesh Claims no Fewer than 16 Lives
A minimum of 16 persons have died after a enormous fire started at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services stating that the fatality count could climb.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were burned beyond recognition, the firefighters stated.
Heartbroken relatives assembled outside the multi-story factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in search of their loved ones still missing.
The inferno, which started at the factory around midday, was extinguished after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, emergency services confirmed.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources reported.
Emergency responders have not determined which of the two buildings ignited initially.
According to eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse stored industrial bleaches, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also releases poisonous gases when burned.
Police and military officers are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the department director told journalists.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also ongoing, he noted.
Tearful family members waited outside the burned buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their missing relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his family member.
"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still haven't found her... I just want my child back," he told news media.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time highlighted the hazardous conditions plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages countless of workers and is a crucial source of foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
