Deadly Clothing Factory Fire in the South Asian nation Claims a Minimum of 16 Fatalities
No fewer than 16 individuals have perished after a huge fire broke out at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the fatality count could rise.
16 bodies have been found but were charred unrecognizable, the firefighters stated.
Heartbroken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in looking for their family members still unaccounted for.
The blaze, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after three hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse kept burning, authorities confirmed.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, media reports reported.
Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse contained bleaching powder, plastic and industrial peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Plastic also produces poisonous gases when combusted.
Security personnel are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the fire service official told journalists.
An inquiry on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also currently underway, he added.
Tearful family members waited outside the burned buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their missing relatives.
Among them is a man searching desperately 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 loved one back," he told journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time emphasized the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which employs millions of workers and is a crucial provider of foreign revenue for the nation.