Devastating Apparel Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Lives
At least 16 persons have died after a massive fire erupted at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the number of victims could rise.
A total of sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were charred beyond recognition, the fire department stated.
Distraught relatives converged outside the multi-story factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in search of their dear ones still unaccounted for.
The fire, which started at the factory around noon, was brought under control after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials said.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, media reports reported.
Emergency responders have not ascertained which of the two buildings ignited initially.
Per eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse stored bleaching powder, plastic and chemical peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also emits toxic fumes when combusted.
Security personnel are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director informed reporters.
An probe on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also ongoing, he noted.
Crying family members stood outside the burned buildings, many of them holding photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Present at the scene is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I came running. But I still haven't found her... I just want my child back," he told reporters.
The catastrophic occurrence has yet again emphasized the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which engages numerous of workers and is a crucial provider of foreign revenue for the nation.
