Tragic Garment Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Takes no Fewer than 16 Victims
No fewer than 16 persons have died after a enormous fire broke out at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the fatality count could climb.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were burned beyond recognition, the firefighters stated.
Grief-stricken relatives assembled outside the four-level factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in search of their family members still not found.
The fire, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, authorities reported.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources said.
Emergency responders have not determined which of the two buildings caught fire first.
According to bystanders, the chemical warehouse contained industrial bleaches, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Polymer products also produces hazardous smoke when ignited.
Security personnel are still searching for the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director informed reporters.
An probe on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also ongoing, he noted.
Crying family members gathered outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them grasping 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 expressed to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has once again emphasized the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's garment industry, which employs numerous of workers and is a major source of foreign revenue for the nation.
