The death toll reached 29 as four more bodies have been found under the rubble of the gutted factory in Tongi.
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Twenty-three fire service units are still trying to douse the flames.
“We have nearly brought the fire under control”. Television footage showed smoke billowing from the factory, with the fire engulfing part of the upper floors.
Eleven people still remained missing based on information from their relatives, said Fatema-Tuz-Zohra, an official of the control room that the Gazipur administration has opened. As per emergency officials, rescue of those affected by the fire could not be initiated early because of the intensity of fire which could not be controlled till late into Saturday night. Huge piles of burned materials and chemicals had to be removed from the building to prevent the fire from spreading further. “As a result, the fire took no time to spread”, Islam said.
Authorities have constituted at least four committees to probe the disaster.
The location of the boiler in the building was also being scrutinized.
Shipar added that if anyone was found guilty of negligence after an investigation had been carried out, action would be taken.
Low-priced manufacturing is the mainstay in Bangladesh, one of the world’s top garment exporters with a Dollars 27-billion industry.
Fatalities in Bangladeshi factories – which mostly produce clothing, packaging and textiles – are common due to a lax implementation of regulations.
Twenty-three workers died immediately.
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BD struggles to search factory after deadly fire was posted in World of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on September 12, 2016 and was last updated on September 12, 2016. In 2012, 112 workers died in a fire at a factory just outside the capital. It is also the worst industrial accident in Bangladesh since the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza building outside Dhaka that killed over 1,100 workers, who were mainly employed in the garment industry.
