A devastating fire at a garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has claimed the lives of at least 16 people, with officials warning that the number of victims could increase as rescue efforts continue.
Authorities reported that sixteen bodies have so far been recovered and will be handed over to families after DNA testing, as the remains were badly burned and difficult to identify.
Crowds of grieving relatives gathered outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district on Tuesday, anxiously waiting for news of loved ones who were still unaccounted for.
The blaze erupted around midday and was brought under control after about three hours, according to the fire service. However, a nearby chemical storage facility continued to burn late into the night.
Major fires remain a recurring tragedy in Bangladesh, often linked to weak enforcement of safety measures and poor building conditions. Hundreds of lives have been lost in similar incidents across the country in recent years.
By 9:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday, officials confirmed that firefighters were still working to fully extinguish the flames at the chemical warehouse next to the factory. Investigators have not yet determined which of the two buildings caught fire first.
Eyewitnesses said the warehouse contained bleaching powder, plastic materials, and hydrogen peroxide — all highly flammable substances that can intensify fires and release toxic fumes when burned.
According to the fire service, most of the victims likely succumbed to poisonous gas inhalation, made worse by the fact that the roof exit was locked at the time of the incident.
Fire service director Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury said the victims probably died “instantly” after inhaling “highly toxic gas.”
Police and military personnel are currently searching for the owners of both the garment factory and the chemical warehouse, while authorities have launched a probe to determine if the warehouse had been operating legally.
Officials revealed that the warehouse lacked both a fire safety clearance and an operating licence. Reports also confirmed that it had no official occupancy permit.
Outside the smouldering buildings, heartbroken families held photographs of their missing relatives. Among them was a father desperately searching for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
“When I heard about the fire, I came running. But I still haven’t found her… I just want my daughter back,” he said tearfully.
Bangladesh has a grim record of industrial disasters. In 2021, a fire at a food and beverage factory killed at least 52 people, later found to have been operating illegally without proper fire exits.
In 2019, a fast-moving blaze swept through an old part of Dhaka, leaving 78 people dead.
The country’s deadliest industrial tragedy occurred in 2013, when the eight-storey Rana Plaza building, which housed several garment factories, collapsed due to structural defects, killing more than 1,100 people.
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