Deadly Garment Factory Fire in the South Asian nation Takes at Least 16 Fatalities
A minimum of 16 people have lost their lives after a huge fire started at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the fatality count could increase.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were charred unrecognizable, the fire service reported.
Distraught relatives converged outside the multi-story factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in search of their loved ones still unaccounted for.
The blaze, which erupted at the factory around noon, was extinguished after three hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials reported.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, media reports reported.
Fire service officials have not determined which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse stored bleaching powder, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Polymer products also produces poisonous gases when ignited.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the owners of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury informed the media.
An probe on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Weeping family members waited outside the charred buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.
Present at the scene is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my child back," he stated to news media.
The devastating event has yet again highlighted the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which employs millions of workers and is a significant contributor to foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
