Devastating Clothing Factory Fire in Bangladesh Takes a Minimum of 16 Fatalities
A minimum of 16 persons have lost their lives after a enormous fire erupted at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the fatality count could climb.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were incinerated impossible to identify, the fire service said.
Heartbroken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in looking for their loved ones still unaccounted for.
The fire, which erupted at the factory around midday, was put out after several hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials confirmed.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources said.
Emergency responders have not determined which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Based on bystanders, the chemical warehouse contained industrial bleaches, synthetic polymers and chemical peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also produces poisonous gases when burned.
Security personnel are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury informed reporters.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he noted.
Weeping family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them holding photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Among them is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my loved one back," he expressed to reporters.
The devastating event has once again underscored the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages millions of workers and is a major source of foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.