Devastating Apparel Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Takes a Minimum of 16 Lives
A minimum of 16 persons have perished after a massive fire started at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the number of victims could climb.
16 bodies have been found but were burned impossible to identify, the fire service reported.
Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-level factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their family members still missing.
The inferno, which broke out at the factory around noon, was extinguished after several hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse remained ablaze, authorities said.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, news sources indicated.
Emergency responders have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Based on witnesses, the chemical warehouse contained chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Plastic also produces hazardous smoke when burned.
Security personnel are still searching for the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director informed reporters.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Crying family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Among them is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my child back," he told reporters.
The catastrophic occurrence has yet again highlighted the safety concerns facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages millions of workers and is a crucial source of economic income for the country.
