Tragic Garment Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Claims a Minimum of 16 Fatalities
A minimum of 16 individuals have lost their lives after a enormous fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with authorities cautioning that the death toll could climb.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were charred impossible to identify, the fire department stated.
Distraught relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in seeking their loved ones still missing.
The fire, which erupted at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse kept burning, officials reported.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources reported.
Fire department authorities have not determined which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse stored industrial bleaches, synthetic polymers and industrial peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Polymer products also produces toxic fumes when burned.
Police and military officers are still attempting to find the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the department director informed journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Crying family members gathered 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 hurried to the scene. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he stated to reporters.
The devastating event has yet again emphasized the security issues facing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which employs millions of workers and is a crucial provider of foreign revenue for the country.
