Bangladesh Factory Fire: 16 Dead in Latest Industrial Tragedy

A deadly fire at a Bangladeshi textile factory and chemical warehouse has hit the region again. The incident killed at least 16 people on Tuesday, although “the death toll could rise,“ said one of the officials. A chemical explosion was the cause of the fire, the identity of the owners of the infrastructure is not yet known.

The fire broke out in a four-story textile factory in the Rupnagar area of Mirpur in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and spread to a chemical warehouse containing chemical powder.The fire broke out in a four-storey textile factory in the Rupnagar area of Mirpur in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and spread to a chemical warehouse containing bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, fire department official Talha Bin Jashim explained.

After nearly three hours, authorities managed to bring the fire under control, “recovering sixteen bodies from the second and third floors, although the number of victims could rise as rescue operations continue,“ said Tajul Islam Chowdhury, director of the regional fire department.

The owners of the factory have not yet been identified

The owners of the facility have not been identified, “the police and the army are trying to locate them,“ Chowdhury said.The textile factory had a tin roof with a barred door that was kept locked, so “the workers could not go to the upper floor,“ the authorities explained. Both the factory and the adjoining warehouse did not have the necessary license or fire safety clearance.

Poor fire and building safety conditions cause dozens of similar tragedies each year in Bangladesh. These accidents have tarnished the reputation of the country’s textile sector, which employs more than four million people and accounts for more than 10 percent of its gross domestic product.

In 2012, a fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory, a supplier to major international brands, killed 112 workers. A year later, the collapse of the eight-story Rana Plaza building claimed 1,135 lives and sparked a wave of global outrage over the human cost of cheap fashion.