Devastating Garment Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Claims at Least 16 Lives
No fewer than 16 people have died after a enormous fire started at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the fatality count could climb.
Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were charred unrecognizable, the fire department stated.
Distraught relatives gathered outside the four-level factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on that day in seeking their loved ones still missing.
The blaze, which erupted at the factory around midday, was put out after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, emergency services said.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, journalistic accounts indicated.
Emergency responders have not established which of the two buildings ignited initially.
Based on eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse stored chemical bleaching agents, synthetic polymers and chemical peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Plastic also emits poisonous gases when burned.
Security personnel are still searching for the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury informed journalists.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Weeping family members gathered outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their missing relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still haven't found her... I just want my child back," he expressed to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has yet again underscored the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's clothing sector, which employs millions of workers and is a major contributor to economic income for the nation.