Deadly Apparel Factory Blaze in Bangladesh Claims at Least 16 Victims
At least 16 individuals have lost their lives after a huge fire broke out at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with authorities stating that the death toll could increase.
A total of sixteen bodies have been recovered but were incinerated impossible to identify, the fire department stated.
Grief-stricken 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 blaze, which broke out at the factory around noon, was extinguished after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials said.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, news sources said.
Emergency responders have not ascertained which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed chemical bleaching agents, plastic and industrial peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Plastic also releases hazardous smoke when burned.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still trying to locate the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director briefed journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also ongoing, he mentioned.
Weeping family members waited outside the charred buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their missing relatives.
Among them 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 have been unable to find her... I just want my loved one back," he told journalists.
The tragic incident has yet again underscored the safety concerns plaguing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which provides jobs for countless of workers and is a crucial provider of foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
