Dhaka factory fire kills 16 workers

At least sixteen people lost their lives on Tuesday after a fire engulfed a chemical and garments factory in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, officials confirmed.

According to Tajul Islam Chowdhury, Director at the Fire Service Department, the blaze began in the factory’s warehouse before spreading to an adjacent multi-storey garment building. All the bodies were recovered from the garment section, he told reporters.

Outside the factory, grieving relatives searched desperately for missing family members. Abdur Rahman, aged 19, said he was looking for his brother Robin.
“I found one of his colleagues who escaped by smashing a window. He saw my brother inside,” Rahman told AFP. “He didn’t survive.”

Many others held up photographs of missing workers, appealing for information about their loved ones.

Chowdhury explained that most of the victims appeared to have suffered severe inhalation injuries caused by chemical fumes, as large quantities of highly flammable materials were stored inside. He added that officials had yet to access the chemical warehouse due to safety risks.

A witness, 34-year-old Tahmina Sharmin, said she heard a loud explosion before the area was quickly engulfed in flames and smoke.
“People were shocked and didn’t know what to do at first,” she said, adding that she joined others in helping before fire crews arrived.

Bangladesh continues to face frequent industrial fires, with more than 26,500 incidents reported last year alone, largely due to poor enforcement of safety regulations.

In 2021, at least 52 people, including several children, died when a blaze swept through a food processing factory. The country’s deadliest industrial fire occurred in 2012, when a garment factory on Dhaka’s outskirts was gutted by flames, killing at least 111 workers and injuring over 200 others.