Devastating Apparel Factory Blaze in Bangladesh Has Taken no Fewer than 16 Fatalities

At least 16 people have lost their lives after a enormous fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with officials warning that the fatality count could rise.

16 bodies have been recovered but were incinerated unrecognizable, the fire department reported.

Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-level factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on that day in seeking their family members still missing.

The inferno, which started at the factory around midday, was put out after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, officials said.

Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, journalistic accounts said.

Fire department authorities have not determined which of the two buildings was the origin point.

According to witnesses, the chemical warehouse housed bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also releases toxic fumes when ignited.

Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the department director informed reporters.

An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he noted.

Weeping family members stood outside the burned buildings, many of them holding photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.

Included in the crowd is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.

"When I was informed of the fire, I rushed here. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my daughter back," he told reporters.

The catastrophic occurrence has once again underscored the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which engages countless of workers and is a crucial contributor to export earnings for the South Asian economy.