Deadly Garment Factory Blaze in the South Asian nation Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Victims
No fewer than 16 persons have lost their lives after a massive fire started at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the fatality count could climb.
16 bodies have been retrieved but were burned unrecognizable, the fire service reported.
Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on that day in looking for their loved ones still not found.
The inferno, which broke out at the factory around lunchtime, was put out after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse kept burning, officials said.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, media reports reported.
Fire service officials have not determined which of the two buildings ignited initially.
Per witnesses, the chemical warehouse stored bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also releases toxic fumes when burned.
Police and military officers are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the department director briefed reporters.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also currently underway, he added.
Weeping family members waited outside the charred buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man searching desperately for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I learned of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still haven't found her... I just want my loved one back," he expressed to reporters.
The devastating event has once again highlighted the hazardous conditions plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which employs numerous of workers and is a major provider of foreign revenue for the nation.
