Devastating Apparel Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Takes a Minimum of 16 Fatalities
A minimum of 16 people have perished after a massive fire erupted at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services stating that the fatality count could rise.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were charred impossible to identify, the firefighters said.
Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-level factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on that day in search of their dear ones still unaccounted for.
The fire, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was put out after several hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse remained ablaze, officials reported.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, media reports reported.
Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse contained bleaching powder, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Plastic also produces hazardous smoke when ignited.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director informed the media.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he noted.
Weeping family members waited outside the burned buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I learned of the fire, I rushed here. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to reporters.
The tragic incident has another time underscored the hazardous conditions plaguing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which engages countless of workers and is a major contributor to economic income for the South Asian economy.
