At least 16 people were killed in a fire at a garment factory and its adjacent chemical warehouse in the Rupnagar Residential Area of Shialbari in the capital鈥檚 Mirpur area on Tuesday.
Fire Service and Civil Defence director (operation and maintenance) Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury in the evening told journalists that they had recovered 16 bodies from the second and third floors of the four-storey garments factory.
鈥榃e suspect that all of them have died after inhaling toxic gas. The search operation at the garment factory is almost completed but the firefighters could not start searching at the chemical warehouse,鈥� he said.
The firefighters took the bodies to Dhaka Medical College Hospital at about 8:30pm for identification.
Fire service officials said that the number of casualties may increase further.
Meanwhile, three people with burn injuries have been admitted to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, said the institute鈥檚 resident surgeon Shawon Bin Rahman.
The injured are Md Suruj, 30, Md Mamun, 35, and Shohel, 32, he said.
Chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus and different political parties expressed profound shock and sorrow at the deaths in the fire.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, in a statement on Tuesday, claimed that the affected factory was not a member of the association and that it was a washing facility.
According to eyewitnesses, the fire broke out at about 11:30am in the garment factory and its adjacent tin-shed structure, used as a chemical warehouse.
Fire service officials said that they found no fire safety plan or license during their primary probe at the garment factory and the chemical warehouse.
As the garment factory caught fire, many people with photos of their near and dear ones gathered there in search of them. 聽
Fire Service and Civil Defence director Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury at about until 8:30pm said that the fire at the garment factory was brought under control, but firefighters had been working at the chemical warehouse to bring the fire under control.
He said that the bodies were charred in the fire and that it was not possible to identify them without DNA tests.
鈥楾he chemical warehouse is extremely hazardous, and we are not allowing anyone to enter that area. We are conducting operations using the most advanced technology, including drones,鈥� he said.
Tajul also said that there were seven or eight kinds of chemicals at the warehouse.
The chemicals include bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, he said.
鈥業t is initially believed that the explosion released a toxic white smoke or gas, which was fatal. The fire quickly reached the 鈥榙eveloping stage鈥� or third stage, rendering the victims unconscious,鈥� he said.
No one could escape up or down as there were two locks on the roof door, he added.
Members of the Criminal Investigation Department鈥檚 crime scene and chemical lab experts rushed to the spot and were working to collect evidence, CID said in a text message.
As the news of the fire spread, many families rushed to the spot searching for their loved ones who worked at the factory and the warehouse.
Tahera Begum, a middle-aged woman, along with her son Naim, had been howling near the garments factory at about 5:00pm.
She told 抖阴精品 that her daughter-in-law, Mona, joined the factory four days ago.
鈥楳y son Naim works at a hotel in the area, and Mona started working at the factory. They got married a few months ago,鈥� she said.
She further said that she had been searching for her daughter-in-law for hours, but the authorities did not let her know anything.
Another woman, Surma Begum, was crying with her daughter鈥檚 passport-sized photo in her hand, saying that she was not getting any news about her daughter, Nargis Akhtar.
She kept saying, 鈥楴o one from the Army, Border Guard Bangladesh, or Fire Service is telling me anything. I don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going on inside, whether something happened to my daughter.鈥�
Afzal Sarkar, the manager of a showroom on the same road in Shialbari, said that he saw the fire from the beginning.
He said that the fire first broke out in the 鈥榳ash section鈥� on the ground floor of the factory and later spread to the tin-shed chemical warehouse.
鈥楢n explosion occurred in the warehouse then. This caused the chemical drums in the warehouse to spill. The fire then spread throughout the entire factory,鈥� he said.
He said that some of the workers could get out of the factory, but many of them got stuck there.
The cause of the fire could not be known immediately.
It was initially believed that the fire was originated at the chemical warehouse, the fire officials said.
They said that the fire at the warehouse could not be brought under control until 10:30pm.
Those who first responded to the blaze said that they saw the fire in both the chemical warehouse and the garment factory.
Several eyewitnesses stated that the ground floor of the garment factory housed a 鈥榳ash unit,鈥� where the fire initially broke out.
The flames then spread to the adjacent chemical warehouse, triggering a loud explosion. After that, the fire quickly engulfed the entire factory.
In a condolence message, the chief adviser prayed for the eternal peace of the departed souls and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved families.
鈥楾his loss of innocent lives in such a tragic accident is deeply painful and heartbreaking. We stand beside the affected families in this time of grief,鈥� the chief adviser said.
Different political parties and organisations, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the Jatiya Party, the BGMEA, and Socialist Labour Front, also expressed profound shock and sorrow at the deaths in the fire.