Deadly Clothing Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Lives
No fewer than 16 individuals have lost their lives after a massive fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with officials warning that the number of victims could climb.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were charred impossible to identify, the fire department reported.
Heartbroken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in seeking their family members still unaccounted for.
The fire, which erupted at the factory around midday, was put out after multiple hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse remained ablaze, emergency services confirmed.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, journalistic accounts indicated.
Fire department authorities have not determined which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Based on witnesses, the chemical warehouse stored industrial bleaches, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Polymer products also emits poisonous gases when combusted.
Police and military officers are still trying to locate the owners 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 ongoing, he added.
Tearful family members gathered outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them holding photographs of their missing relatives.
Present at the scene is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I came running. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my loved one back," he stated to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time underscored the safety concerns facing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which engages countless of workers and is a major source of foreign revenue for the country.
