Devastating Clothing Factory Fire in the South Asian nation Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Lives
A minimum of 16 individuals have lost their lives after a enormous fire broke out at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with officials stating that the death toll could climb.
A total of sixteen bodies have been found but were incinerated impossible to identify, the firefighters said.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the multi-story factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on that day in search of their loved ones still unaccounted for.
The blaze, which erupted at the factory around midday, was put out after several hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse continued to burn, emergency services reported.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, media reports reported.
Fire service officials have not determined which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse stored chemical bleaching agents, plastic and chemical peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Synthetic materials also produces toxic fumes when ignited.
Police and military officers are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director informed the media.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also in progress, he noted.
Crying family members stood outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their missing 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 cannot locate her... I just want my daughter back," he stated to news media.
The devastating event has once again underscored the safety concerns plaguing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which provides jobs for numerous of workers and is a crucial contributor to foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
