Deadly Garment Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Takes no Fewer than 16 Victims
At least 16 individuals have died after a enormous fire broke out at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the fatality count could increase.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were incinerated impossible to identify, the fire service stated.
Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in looking for their family members still unaccounted for.
The inferno, which broke out at the factory around midday, was brought under control after multiple hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse kept burning, authorities confirmed.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, news sources indicated.
Emergency responders have not established which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Per witnesses, the chemical warehouse stored industrial bleaches, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Synthetic materials also emits toxic fumes when combusted.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the fire service official told journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also in progress, he noted.
Weeping family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their missing relatives.
Present at the scene is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I learned of the fire, I rushed here. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my loved one back," he expressed to journalists.
The tragic incident has yet again highlighted the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's clothing sector, which engages numerous of workers and is a significant provider of export earnings for the South Asian economy.
