Tragic Garment Factory Fire in the South Asian nation Has Taken a Minimum of 16 Lives
No fewer than 16 people have died after a huge fire started at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with authorities warning that the number of victims could rise.
A total of sixteen bodies have been found but were burned beyond recognition, the firefighters reported.
Distraught relatives gathered outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in seeking their loved ones still not found.
The inferno, which broke out at the factory around noon, was extinguished after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, authorities confirmed.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, media reports indicated.
Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Based on bystanders, the chemical warehouse contained chemical bleaching agents, plastic and chemical peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also produces hazardous smoke when burned.
Security personnel are still attempting to find the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury briefed the media.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also ongoing, he mentioned.
Crying family members stood outside the charred buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Among them is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, his family member.
"When I heard about the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my child back," he told journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time emphasized the safety concerns affecting Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which provides jobs for countless of workers and is a crucial provider of export earnings for the nation.
