Tragic Apparel Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Claims at Least 16 Fatalities
No fewer than 16 persons have died after a enormous fire started at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with authorities cautioning that the fatality count could increase.
A total of sixteen bodies have been recovered but were burned impossible to identify, the firefighters reported.
Grief-stricken relatives assembled outside the multi-story factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in looking for their loved ones still unaccounted for.
The inferno, which broke out at the factory around noon, was extinguished after multiple hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, authorities reported.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, journalistic accounts indicated.
Emergency responders have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed industrial bleaches, plastic materials and industrial peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also produces poisonous gases when combusted.
Police and military officers are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the fire service official told the media.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he added.
Weeping family members stood outside the burned buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.
Present at the scene is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his family member.
"When I learned of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still haven't found her... I just want my child back," he told reporters.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time emphasized the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which provides jobs for numerous of workers and is a significant contributor to foreign revenue for the country.