Devastating Clothing Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Claims a Minimum of 16 Victims
No fewer than 16 individuals have perished after a enormous fire broke out at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the death toll could climb.
A total of sixteen bodies have been found but were charred beyond recognition, the firefighters stated.
Distraught relatives converged outside the multi-story factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in looking for their family members still not found.
The fire, which erupted at the factory around noon, was extinguished after three hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse continued to burn, authorities confirmed.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources indicated.
Fire department authorities have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse stored industrial bleaches, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Polymer products also emits toxic fumes when combusted.
Security personnel are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury informed reporters.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also in progress, he noted.
Weeping family members waited outside the charred buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Present at the scene is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his family member.
"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my loved one back," he stated to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has once again highlighted the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's garment industry, which provides jobs for millions of workers and is a major provider of export earnings for the country.
