Devastating Clothing Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Fatalities
No fewer than 16 people have perished after a massive fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the number of victims could climb.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were burned impossible to identify, the firefighters stated.
Heartbroken relatives converged outside the four-level factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on that day in looking for their loved ones still not found.
The inferno, which erupted at the factory around lunchtime, was put out after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials confirmed.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, journalistic accounts indicated.
Fire department authorities have not ascertained which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Per eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse housed industrial bleaches, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also emits toxic fumes when combusted.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still trying to locate the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the fire service official briefed journalists.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Weeping family members gathered outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Present at the scene is a man searching desperately for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my loved one back," he expressed to news media.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time highlighted the safety concerns facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages numerous of workers and is a crucial source of economic income for the nation.
