Devastating Apparel Factory Blaze in Bangladesh Claims no Fewer than 16 Victims
At least 16 people have perished after a huge fire erupted at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the death toll could climb.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were charred unrecognizable, the fire service said.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in seeking their family members still unaccounted for.
The inferno, which erupted at the factory around lunchtime, was put out after multiple hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, officials reported.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, journalistic accounts said.
Fire department authorities have not ascertained which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Based on witnesses, the chemical warehouse housed bleaching powder, synthetic polymers and chemical peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Plastic also emits poisonous gases when burned.
Police and military officers are still attempting to find the operators of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the department director informed journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also ongoing, he added.
Crying family members stood outside the burned buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I was informed of the fire, I rushed here. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my daughter back," he stated to news media.
The tragic incident has another time highlighted the safety concerns affecting Bangladesh's garment industry, which provides jobs for millions of workers and is a major provider of foreign revenue for the country.
