Deadly Apparel Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Has Taken a Minimum of 16 Fatalities
A minimum of 16 individuals have perished after a huge fire erupted at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services stating that the death toll could climb.
Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were burned impossible to identify, the firefighters stated.
Distraught relatives converged outside the four-level factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in search of their dear ones still missing.
The blaze, which started at the factory around midday, was brought under control after multiple hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse kept burning, officials reported.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, journalistic accounts reported.
Fire department authorities have not established which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Based on bystanders, the chemical warehouse stored chemical bleaching agents, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Plastic also releases hazardous smoke when combusted.
Security personnel are still searching for the owners of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury told journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he noted.
Weeping family members gathered outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I came running. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my loved one back," he told news media.
The tragic incident has another time emphasized the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which provides jobs for millions of workers and is a crucial provider of foreign revenue for the nation.
