Tragic Clothing Factory Fire in Bangladesh Takes no Fewer than 16 Lives
At least 16 persons have lost their lives after a enormous fire broke out at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with authorities cautioning that the fatality count could rise.
A total of sixteen bodies have been recovered but were burned impossible to identify, the fire department stated.
Grief-stricken relatives gathered outside the multi-story factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their family members still not found.
The fire, which broke out at the factory around noon, was extinguished after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials said.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, journalistic accounts said.
Emergency responders have not established which of the two buildings ignited initially.
Per witnesses, the chemical warehouse contained bleaching powder, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Polymer products also emits toxic fumes when ignited.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury informed the media.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also ongoing, he added.
Crying family members stood outside the charred buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their lost relatives.
Among them is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I was informed of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my loved one back," he stated to news media.
The devastating event has another time highlighted the security issues affecting Bangladesh's clothing sector, which provides jobs for numerous of workers and is a significant source of export earnings for the South Asian economy.
