Devastating Garment Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Has Taken a Minimum of 16 Victims
A minimum of 16 individuals have perished after a massive fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the number of victims could climb.
A total of sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were incinerated unrecognizable, the fire service said.
Distraught relatives gathered outside the four-level factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on that day in seeking their dear ones still unaccounted for.
The inferno, which erupted at the factory around midday, was brought under control after multiple hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse remained ablaze, authorities reported.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, journalistic accounts reported.
Emergency responders have not ascertained which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Per eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse contained bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Synthetic materials also releases poisonous gases when ignited.
Security personnel are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury briefed reporters.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also ongoing, he added.
Weeping family members waited outside the charred buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their lost relatives.
Among them is a man searching desperately for his daughter, his family member.
"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my loved one back," he expressed to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has once again underscored the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages millions of workers and is a significant source of foreign revenue for the nation.
