Devastating Clothing Factory Fire in the South Asian nation Takes no Fewer than 16 Lives
At least 16 individuals have perished after a massive fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the death toll could rise.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were burned impossible to identify, the fire service said.
Distraught relatives converged outside the multi-story factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in search of their dear ones still unaccounted for.
The blaze, which broke out at the factory around midday, was put out after multiple hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, emergency services reported.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, news sources indicated.
Emergency responders have not determined which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Based on eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse housed chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and chemical peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also releases toxic fumes when ignited.
Security personnel are still attempting to find the operators of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the fire service official told the media.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he noted.
Tearful family members gathered outside the charred buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Among them is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I was informed of the fire, I rushed here. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has yet again underscored the safety concerns plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which provides jobs for numerous of workers and is a major source of export earnings for the country.
