Tragic Garment Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Takes no Fewer than 16 Lives
No fewer than 16 individuals have perished after a enormous fire broke out at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the fatality count could increase.
A total of sixteen bodies have been found but were incinerated beyond recognition, the fire service said.
Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on that day in seeking their family members still not found.
The inferno, which erupted at the factory around midday, was extinguished after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, emergency services said.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources indicated.
Fire department authorities have not ascertained which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed industrial bleaches, plastic materials and chemical peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Polymer products also releases hazardous smoke when ignited.
Security personnel are still searching for the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the department director informed journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also currently underway, he mentioned.
Tearful family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them holding photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my child back," he expressed to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has once again underscored the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages millions of workers and is a crucial provider of foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.
