Deadly Garment Factory Fire in Bangladesh Takes at Least 16 Lives
A minimum of 16 people have perished after a massive fire broke out at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the number of victims could increase.
Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were burned impossible to identify, the fire department stated.
Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-level 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 lunchtime, was extinguished after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, emergency services reported.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, journalistic accounts reported.
Emergency responders have not determined which of the two buildings ignited initially.
Per witnesses, the chemical warehouse contained industrial bleaches, synthetic polymers and industrial peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also releases poisonous gases when ignited.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury told reporters.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also in progress, he mentioned.
Tearful family members stood outside the charred buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their missing relatives.
Among them is a man searching desperately for his daughter, his family member.
"When I heard about the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time underscored the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's clothing sector, which engages millions of workers and is a major contributor to foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.