Devastating Apparel Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Fatalities
At least 16 individuals have lost their lives after a massive fire started at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the death toll could climb.
Sixteen bodies have been found but were burned beyond recognition, the fire department stated.
Grief-stricken relatives assembled outside the multi-story factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on that day in looking for their loved ones still missing.
The blaze, which erupted at the factory around midday, was put out after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, emergency services confirmed.
Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, journalistic accounts reported.
Fire department authorities have not ascertained which of the two buildings caught fire first.
According to eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse contained chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and chemical peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also releases poisonous gases when ignited.
Security personnel are still searching for the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the fire service official briefed the media.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he noted.
Tearful family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.
Present at the scene is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, his loved one.
"When I was informed of the fire, I rushed here. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he told news media.
The devastating event has another time highlighted the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which provides jobs for numerous of workers and is a crucial provider of export earnings for the country.