Devastating Garment Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Takes no Fewer than 16 Fatalities
No fewer than 16 persons have perished after a massive fire erupted at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the fatality count could climb.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were charred beyond recognition, the fire service reported.
Heartbroken relatives converged outside the four-level factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in seeking their dear ones still missing.
The inferno, which erupted at the factory around midday, was extinguished after multiple hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse remained ablaze, emergency services confirmed.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, journalistic accounts said.
Emergency responders have not established which of the two buildings ignited initially.
According to eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse stored industrial bleaches, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also emits toxic fumes when combusted.
Police and military officers are still searching for the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury told the media.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also currently underway, he added.
Crying family members stood outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Among them 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 daughter back," he expressed to news media.
The catastrophic occurrence has once again underscored the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which employs millions of workers and is a major contributor to foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
