Devastating Garment Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Claims a Minimum of 16 Fatalities
At least 16 persons have died after a huge fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with officials stating that the fatality count could rise.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were charred impossible to identify, the fire department reported.
Distraught relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on that day in looking for their family members still not found.
The blaze, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after several hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse continued to burn, emergency services reported.
Up 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.
Based on witnesses, the chemical warehouse stored chemical bleaching agents, synthetic polymers and industrial peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Plastic also releases toxic fumes when burned.
Security personnel are still trying to locate the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the department director told the media.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also ongoing, he mentioned.
Crying family members stood outside the burned buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Present at the scene is a man searching desperately for his daughter, his family member.
"When I learned of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my child back," he told reporters.
The devastating event has another time emphasized the safety concerns affecting Bangladesh's clothing sector, which employs numerous of workers and is a major provider of foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
