Tragic Garment Factory Fire in Bangladesh Claims no Fewer than 16 Victims
At least 16 individuals have lost their lives after a huge fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the number of victims could rise.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were incinerated impossible to identify, the fire department reported.
Distraught relatives gathered outside the four-level factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in search of their family members still unaccounted for.
The inferno, which started at the factory around midday, was put out after three hours. But an nearby 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 fully extinguished, news sources said.
Emergency responders have not determined which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed chemical bleaching agents, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Plastic also releases poisonous gases when burned.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the fire service official told journalists.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he added.
Tearful family members waited outside the charred buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I learned of the fire, I rushed here. But I still haven't found her... I just want my child back," he expressed to reporters.
The devastating event has once again emphasized the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's clothing sector, which employs numerous of workers and is a crucial source of export earnings for the nation.
