Tragic Garment Factory Blaze in Bangladesh Takes at Least 16 Fatalities
No fewer than 16 persons have perished after a huge fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with officials warning that the fatality count could rise.
Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were charred impossible to identify, the fire department reported.
Distraught relatives converged outside the multi-story factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in looking for their dear ones still missing.
The inferno, which erupted at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, officials reported.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, media reports said.
Fire department authorities have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per witnesses, the chemical warehouse stored bleaching powder, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Plastic also produces poisonous gases when burned.
Police and military officers are still searching for the owners of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury told journalists.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Crying family members waited outside the burned buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Present at the scene is a man looking frantically for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to news media.
The devastating event has another time emphasized the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which engages countless of workers and is a crucial contributor to economic income for the nation.
