Tragic Clothing Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Takes at Least 16 Fatalities
At least 16 people have lost their lives after a massive fire broke out at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the fatality count could climb.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were incinerated impossible to identify, the fire service reported.
Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on that day in search of their family members still unaccounted for.
The inferno, which started at the factory around midday, was brought under control after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, emergency services confirmed.
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.
Fire department authorities have not determined which of the two buildings ignited initially.
Based on eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse housed industrial bleaches, plastic materials and industrial peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Polymer products also produces hazardous smoke when burned.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director informed the media.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also in progress, he added.
Crying family members gathered outside the burned buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their missing relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, his family member.
"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my child back," he stated to reporters.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time emphasized the security issues facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which provides jobs for numerous of workers and is a significant provider of export earnings for the South Asian economy.
