🔗 Share this article

At least 16 persons have lost their lives after a huge fire started at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with officials stating that the death toll could climb.

Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were burned beyond recognition, the fire department reported.

Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their family members still missing.

The blaze, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after three hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse continued to burn, officials confirmed.

As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, journalistic accounts indicated.

Emergency responders have not ascertained which of the two buildings was the origin point.

According to witnesses, the chemical warehouse stored chemical bleaching agents, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Plastic also emits poisonous gases when burned.

Law enforcement and armed forces are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury told journalists.

An investigation on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also in progress, he noted.

Weeping family members stood outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.

Among them is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.

"When I learned of the fire, I rushed here. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he expressed to news media.

The tragic incident has once again highlighted the hazardous conditions plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages numerous of workers and is a crucial contributor to export earnings for the country.