Tragic Clothing Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Has Taken a Minimum of 16 Fatalities
At least 16 people have perished after a huge fire erupted at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the number of victims could climb.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were charred beyond recognition, the firefighters stated.
Heartbroken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in search of their family members still missing.
The inferno, which started at the factory around noon, was put out after three hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse continued to burn, authorities reported.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, journalistic accounts reported.
Fire department authorities have not established which of the two buildings ignited initially.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed industrial bleaches, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also releases toxic fumes when combusted.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the department director informed journalists.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also ongoing, he mentioned.
Crying family members stood outside the burned buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Among them is a man looking frantically for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my daughter back," he stated to journalists.
The devastating event has once again underscored the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which engages countless of workers and is a major contributor to foreign revenue for the nation.
