Devastating Garment Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Has Taken a Minimum of 16 Victims
At least 16 persons have lost their lives after a huge fire started at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the number of victims could climb.
A total of sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were charred beyond recognition, the fire service reported.
Heartbroken relatives converged outside the four-level factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on that day in looking for their family members still unaccounted for.
The blaze, which erupted at the factory around midday, was extinguished after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse kept burning, authorities reported.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, media reports indicated.
Emergency responders have not ascertained which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse stored industrial bleaches, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also emits hazardous smoke when ignited.
Security personnel are still attempting to find the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the fire service official briefed the media.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he mentioned.
Weeping family members gathered outside the burned buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their unaccounted for 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 cannot locate her... I just want my child back," he told journalists.
The devastating event has another time emphasized the safety concerns facing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which provides jobs for countless of workers and is a significant provider of foreign revenue for the nation.
