Tragic Garment Factory Fire in Bangladesh Takes no Fewer than 16 Victims
A minimum of 16 individuals have perished after a enormous fire broke out at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with officials warning that the death toll could increase.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were incinerated impossible to identify, the fire department said.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the multi-story factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in search of their family members still unaccounted for.
The inferno, which broke out at the factory around noon, was brought under control after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, emergency services reported.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, journalistic accounts said.
Emergency responders have not established which of the two buildings was the origin point.
According to witnesses, the chemical warehouse contained industrial bleaches, synthetic polymers and chemical peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Plastic also releases toxic fumes when ignited.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the fire service official told reporters.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also currently underway, he noted.
Weeping family members stood outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their lost relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I was informed 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 another time underscored the safety concerns affecting Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages numerous of workers and is a crucial contributor to economic income for the country.
