Tragic Clothing Factory Fire in the South Asian nation Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Victims
A minimum of 16 persons have perished after a huge fire started at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with authorities warning that the fatality count could climb.
16 bodies have been found but were incinerated unrecognizable, the fire department said.
Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in search of their family members still missing.
The fire, which broke out at the factory around noon, was brought under control after several hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials reported.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, media reports reported.
Fire service officials have not ascertained which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse contained bleaching powder, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Polymer products also emits toxic fumes when burned.
Police and military officers are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the fire service official briefed reporters.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he noted.
Weeping family members waited outside the burned buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their lost relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I learned of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to journalists.
The tragic incident has another time highlighted the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages countless of workers and is a major source of economic income for the country.
