Devastating Clothing Factory Blaze in Bangladesh Has Taken at Least 16 Fatalities
A minimum of 16 persons have lost their lives after a enormous fire erupted at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the number of victims could climb.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were burned impossible to identify, the firefighters reported.
Distraught relatives converged outside the multi-story factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their loved ones still not found.
The inferno, which erupted at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after three hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials said.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources reported.
Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings ignited initially.
According to eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse contained bleaching powder, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also produces toxic fumes when burned.
Security personnel are still searching for the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury informed reporters.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Crying family members waited outside the charred buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.
Present at the scene is a man searching desperately for his daughter, his family member.
"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still haven't found her... I just want my loved one back," he told reporters.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time highlighted the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which provides jobs for numerous of workers and is a major contributor to export earnings for the South Asian economy.
