Devastating Apparel Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Victims
At least 16 persons have lost their lives after a huge fire started at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the death toll could rise.
Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were charred impossible to identify, the firefighters stated.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-level factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on that day in looking for their family members still not found.
The inferno, which erupted at the factory around lunchtime, was put out after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, authorities confirmed.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, journalistic accounts reported.
Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Based on witnesses, the chemical warehouse housed bleaching powder, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also produces toxic fumes when combusted.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still trying to locate the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the fire service official briefed reporters.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he added.
Weeping family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them holding photographs of their missing relatives.
Among them is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his family member.
"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he stated to journalists.
The devastating event has once again emphasized the safety concerns facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which provides jobs for countless of workers and is a major provider of economic income for the South Asian economy.
