Tragic Apparel Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Has Taken at Least 16 Lives
A minimum of 16 people have lost their lives after a enormous fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the death toll could increase.
A total of sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were charred impossible to identify, the fire service reported.
Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday in search of their family members still unaccounted for.
The fire, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials reported.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, media reports indicated.
Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Based on bystanders, the chemical warehouse contained chemical bleaching agents, synthetic polymers and chemical peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Plastic also releases hazardous smoke when combusted.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director briefed reporters.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he noted.
Weeping family members gathered outside the charred buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their missing relatives.
Among them is a man searching desperately for his daughter, his family member.
"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my child back," he stated to journalists.
The devastating event has another time emphasized the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's clothing sector, which provides jobs for numerous of workers and is a major contributor to economic income for the country.
