Tragic Garment Factory Fire in Bangladesh Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Lives
No fewer than 16 people have died after a huge fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with authorities warning that the death toll could rise.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were incinerated unrecognizable, the firefighters stated.
Distraught relatives gathered outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in search of their loved ones still not found.
The inferno, which erupted at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished 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 fully extinguished, journalistic accounts reported.
Fire department authorities have not determined which of the two buildings was the origin point.
According to witnesses, the chemical warehouse stored industrial bleaches, synthetic polymers and chemical peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Plastic also emits poisonous gases when combusted.
Security personnel are still attempting to find the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the fire service official told journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also ongoing, he mentioned.
Crying family members waited outside the charred buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their missing relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I came running. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my daughter back," he stated to news media.
The devastating event has yet again underscored the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which employs millions of workers and is a crucial contributor to export earnings for the South Asian economy.
