Deadly Clothing Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Has Taken a Minimum of 16 Fatalities
At least 16 individuals have lost their lives after a enormous fire started at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the number of victims could climb.
16 bodies have been found but were burned unrecognizable, the fire service reported.
Grief-stricken relatives gathered outside the four-storey factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on that day in search of their family members still missing.
The blaze, which erupted at the factory around noon, was put out after several hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials said.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, news sources reported.
Emergency responders have not determined which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed chemical bleaching agents, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Plastic also emits toxic fumes when burned.
Security personnel are still searching for the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the fire service official told the media.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Crying family members waited outside the charred buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Among them is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, his family member.
"When I heard about the fire, I came running. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my loved one back," he stated to reporters.
The devastating event has another time emphasized the security issues facing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which provides jobs for countless of workers and is a major source of export earnings for the South Asian economy.
