The cause of the fire in the Tongi industrial zone about 0 kilometres north of the capital, Dhaka, was not immediately known, but officials said a boiler explosion probably triggered the blaze, around 8am, as workers prepared to change shifts.
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Authorities said 19 bodies are now in the Tongi hospital, five have been declared dead at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and two more at the Adhunik Medical College Hospital at Dhaka’s Uttara. “As a result, the fire took no time to spread”, Islam told AFP, adding scores of fire officials were still battling to bring the blaze under control. A huge fire erupted following the blast.
The paper said at least 10 people were killed and 20 injured, citing hospital sources. Saturday was the last working day at the factory before the workers were to go on leave for a weeklong holiday for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, which falls on Tuesday. “Now he is going to be buried there”, said Khaleda Begum, the sister of a factory worker killed in the accident.
But thousands of local factories supplying the domestic market have done little to address safety concerns.
The head of Bangladesh’s factory inspection department said a committee had been set up to investigate the fire.
A year later, a multi-storied commercial complex housing five garment factories and offices collapsed, killing 1,135 people, mostly garment workers near Dhaka.
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The major factory accidents in 2012 and 2013 prompted Bangladesh’s government, global brands and the United Nations to work together to try to improve safety standards in the South Asian country’s factories.
