Devastating Garment Factory Fire in the South Asian nation Takes no Fewer than 16 Victims
A minimum of 16 persons have perished after a huge fire erupted at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the number of victims could increase.
Sixteen bodies have been found but were incinerated impossible to identify, the firefighters said.
Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-level factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their loved ones still unaccounted for.
The fire, which erupted at the factory around midday, was put out after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse kept burning, authorities said.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, media reports indicated.
Emergency responders have not ascertained which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Based on bystanders, the chemical warehouse contained chemical bleaching agents, plastic and chemical peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Polymer products also releases hazardous smoke when burned.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still attempting to find the owners of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the fire service official informed reporters.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also in progress, he added.
Weeping family members gathered outside the burned buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their lost relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man searching desperately for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to journalists.
The catastrophic occurrence has another time underscored the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which employs countless of workers and is a major provider of economic income for the nation.