At least 16 people have been confirmed dead and several others injured after a fire consumed a garment factory and a chemical warehouse in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
The fire reportedly started on the third floor of a seven-story garment factory in Mirpur before spreading to a nearby warehouse storing bleaching powder, plastic, and hydrogen peroxide.
According to the Fire Service and Civil Defence Department, the cause of the fire, which destroyed goods worth millions, is yet to be determined.
“We suspect that all of them died after inhaling toxic gas. The death toll could rise, as firefighters are still searching the garment factory,” said fire official Talha bin Jashim on Tuesday.
Jashim added that they had “almost extinguished the fire” at the garment factory, “but the blaze at the chemical warehouse is yet to be fully contained.”
The injured, including three people with severe burns, were admitted to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, he said.
Bangladesh is the world’s second largest garment industry after China, and the sector has employed about 4 million workers, mostly women.
The industry, which earns about $40 billion a year from exports, mainly to the United States and Europe, has a history of industrial accidents and fires which have been blamed on lax monitoring and violation of building codes.
