Garment factory fire kills 16 workers in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Bangladesh — A fire on Tuesday at a garment factory in Bangladesh and an adjacent chemical warehouse killed at least 16 people and injured others, and the death toll could rise, an official said.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately known, fire service director Tajul Islam Chowdhury said.

“Sixteen bodies have been recovered from the second and third floors of the garment factory,” he said, adding that the number of deaths could rise as recovery operations were continuing.

The fire broke out around midday on the third floor of the four-story factory in the Mirpur area of the capital, Dhaka, before spreading to a chemical warehouse storing bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, fire department official Talha Bin Jashim said, citing witnesses.

Firefighters brought the factory blaze under control after nearly three hours, though the fire at the warehouse continued.

Grief-stricken relatives gathered to search for their loved ones, some clutching photographs.

In front of the blackened ruins, a father searched desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.

“My daughter worked there. When I heard about the fire, I came running. But I still haven’t found her. ... I just want my daughter back.”

Chowdhury said the owners of the factory had not yet been identified. “The police and the army are trying to locate them,” he said. He added that neither the garment factory nor the chemical warehouse had approval or any fire safety plan.

Based on the initial findings, he said the garment factory had a tin roof with a grilled door that was kept locked. “The workers couldn’t reach the upper level,” he said.

“The chemical explosion caused a flashover that released toxic gas, leaving many unconscious and trapping them inside. They couldn’t escape either upward or downward.”

He said the victims were so badly burned, DNA testing may be the only way to identify them.

In a condolence message, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus, expressed deep sorrow and urged authorities to investigate and support victims and families.

Poor fire and building safety standards lead to dozens of such disasters in Bangladesh each year, and past accidents have tarnished the South Asian country’s garments sector, which employs 4 million people and makes up more than 10% of the gross domestic product.

In 2012, 112 workers were killed in a fire at Tazreen Fashions, which supplied global brands.

A year later, the eight-story Rana Plaza building collapsed, killing 1,135 garment workers and setting off a wave of public outrage around the world about the human cost of cheap clothes.