Deadly Garment Factory Fire in the South Asian nation Claims at Least 16 Fatalities
A minimum of 16 persons have perished after a huge fire broke out at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the death toll could rise.
A total of sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were burned beyond recognition, the firefighters stated.
Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on that day in looking for their loved ones still unaccounted for.
The inferno, which broke out at the factory around noon, was extinguished after three hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse kept burning, emergency services reported.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, news sources said.
Emergency responders have not determined which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Based on bystanders, the chemical warehouse contained industrial bleaches, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Polymer products also produces toxic fumes when burned.
Police and military officers are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the fire service official told the media.
An probe on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also in progress, he noted.
Tearful 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, his loved one.
"When I was informed of the fire, I rushed here. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to reporters.
The tragic incident has once again emphasized the safety concerns plaguing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which provides jobs for millions of workers and is a significant source of foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
