Deadly Clothing Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Takes at Least 16 Victims
A minimum of 16 individuals have lost their lives after a enormous fire started at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with officials warning that the number of victims could climb.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were burned impossible to identify, the fire department stated.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-level factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in search of their family members still not found.
The blaze, which erupted at the factory around noon, was brought under control after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse kept burning, officials confirmed.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, news sources reported.
Fire department authorities have not ascertained which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Per witnesses, the chemical warehouse contained industrial bleaches, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also releases hazardous smoke when ignited.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury briefed the media.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Crying family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Among them is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his family member.
"When I learned of the fire, I rushed here. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my child back," he stated to news media.
The catastrophic occurrence has yet again emphasized the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which employs millions of workers and is a crucial contributor to foreign revenue for the country.
