Tragic Clothing Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Takes at Least 16 Lives
At least 16 persons have perished after a huge fire started at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with officials stating that the fatality count could climb.
A total of sixteen bodies have been found but were burned impossible to identify, the fire service reported.
Heartbroken relatives converged outside the multi-story factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in looking for their dear ones still not found.
The fire, which broke out at the factory around noon, was extinguished after several hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse remained ablaze, emergency services said.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, news sources indicated.
Fire service officials have not ascertained which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse stored chemical bleaching agents, plastic and industrial peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Polymer products also produces hazardous smoke when burned.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still attempting to find the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director briefed the media.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Tearful family members gathered outside the charred buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their missing relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, his family member.
"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my child back," he expressed to reporters.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time highlighted the security issues affecting Bangladesh's clothing sector, which provides jobs for millions of workers and is a significant source of foreign revenue for the country.
