Tragic Garment Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Lives
A minimum of 16 persons have perished after a massive fire broke out at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with authorities cautioning that the number of victims could increase.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were incinerated impossible to identify, the fire service said.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the multi-story factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on that day in seeking their dear ones still unaccounted for.
The inferno, which started at the factory around midday, was put out after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials said.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources said.
Fire department authorities have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
According to witnesses, the chemical warehouse contained bleaching powder, synthetic polymers and chemical peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Plastic also emits poisonous gases when burned.
Security personnel are still trying to locate the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the fire service official briefed journalists.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he added.
Tearful family members gathered outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their lost relatives.
Present at the scene is a man looking frantically for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I learned of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my loved one back," he expressed to news media.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time highlighted the safety concerns facing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which employs millions of workers and is a major contributor to economic income for the South Asian economy.
