Tragic Garment Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Takes at Least 16 Lives
A minimum of 16 persons have perished after a enormous fire erupted at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the death toll could increase.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were incinerated beyond recognition, the fire department said.
Distraught relatives converged outside the four-level factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in looking for their family members still missing.
The inferno, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was put out after several hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse kept burning, emergency services reported.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources reported.
Fire service officials have not determined which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Based on witnesses, the chemical warehouse housed bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also emits hazardous smoke when burned.
Police and military officers are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury briefed reporters.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also currently underway, he added.
Weeping family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them holding photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his family member.
"When I heard about the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has yet again highlighted the safety concerns affecting Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which employs numerous of workers and is a major source of export earnings for the country.
