Deadly Garment Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Claims a Minimum of 16 Lives
At least 16 people have died after a massive fire started at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with authorities cautioning that the fatality count could climb.
16 bodies have been recovered but were burned impossible to identify, the firefighters stated.
Distraught relatives gathered outside the four-level factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday in search of their loved ones still unaccounted for.
The inferno, which broke out at the factory around noon, was extinguished after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials said.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, journalistic accounts reported.
Emergency responders have not ascertained which of the two buildings ignited initially.
Per witnesses, the chemical warehouse stored chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also produces poisonous gases when ignited.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still attempting to find the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the fire service official told the media.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he added.
Crying family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their lost relatives.
Present at the scene is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I was informed of the fire, I came running. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to news media.
The devastating event has once again highlighted the safety concerns facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages numerous of workers and is a major provider of export earnings for the nation.
