16 killed and several others injured in a fire that broke out at a four-storey garment factory and a chemical warehouse in the Bangladeshi.
Dhaka: At least 16 workers were killed and several others injured on Tuesday in a fire that broke out at a four-storey garment factory and a chemical warehouse in the Bangladeshi capital, officials said.
The devastating fire broke out at a chemical warehouse next to the garment factory in Dhaka’s Rupnagar area, Talha Bin Jasim, an officer at the Fire Service and Civil Defence Media Wing, was quoted as saying by the state-run BSS news agency.
“During the search campaign, 16 bodies were recovered from the garment factory alone,” Fire Service spokesman Anwarul Islam told the agency.
He said fire was suspected to have broken out from the chemical warehouse and spread to the garments unit – Anwar Fashion Garments Factory and Shah Alam Chemical Warehouse.
“We have extinguished the fire at the garment factory, but efforts are still underway to douse the blaze at the chemical depot,” Islam said.
Fire Service and Civil Defence Director (Operation and Maintenance) Lt Col Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury confirmed the toll, but said the victims have not yet been identified.
“So far, we have recovered 16 bodies. Their faces are completely unrecognisable due to burning. Identification will only be possible through DNA testing,” he told reporters in the evening.
The bodies were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for identification.
“We suspect that all of them have died after inhaling toxic gas,” Chowdhury was quoted as saying by Bangla language daily Prothom Alo.
