Devastating Garment Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Victims
No fewer than 16 individuals have lost their lives after a enormous fire started at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with officials stating that the number of victims could increase.
Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were charred unrecognizable, the fire department reported.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-level factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in seeking their loved ones still unaccounted for.
The blaze, which broke out at the factory around noon, was put out after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse kept burning, emergency services reported.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, journalistic accounts said.
Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
According to eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse housed industrial bleaches, plastic materials and chemical peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Polymer products also releases toxic fumes when combusted.
Security personnel are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury informed reporters.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also in progress, he noted.
Weeping family members gathered outside the charred buildings, many of them holding photographs of their missing relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my loved one back," he told journalists.
The devastating event has once again underscored the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages countless of workers and is a significant source of foreign revenue for the nation.
