Devastating Clothing Factory Fire in Bangladesh Has Taken at Least 16 Lives
A minimum of 16 people have lost their lives after a huge fire broke out at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the number of victims could climb.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were burned impossible to identify, the fire service said.
Heartbroken relatives assembled outside the four-storey factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in looking for their loved ones still missing.
The inferno, which broke out at the factory around noon, was put out after multiple hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse kept burning, officials reported.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, media reports said.
Emergency responders have not determined which of the two buildings ignited initially.
According to eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse housed chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and industrial peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Polymer products also emits hazardous smoke when combusted.
Security personnel are still attempting to find the owners of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the department director briefed journalists.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Crying family members gathered outside the charred buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Among them is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my loved one back," he expressed to news media.
The devastating event has another time emphasized the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which engages countless of workers and is a major source of foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
