Many fear the death toll could rise further as the search continues and a few people remain missing after the blaze caused a partial collapse of the factory building.
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Police said there may still be some workers trapped inside the four-storey building.
“We’ve got confirmation of at least 10 dead”.
“We could not start search operations as it took until late into yesterday night to control the fire in the building”, Ajit Kumar Bhoumik, a senior official of the fire service said early on Sunday.
At least six of the 14 people being treated for burns in hospital were in critical condition, said police official Mohammed Bacchu Mia.
“We are now unaware of the precise cause of the fire, but have been informed that theBangladesh government has set up a formal investigation”.
“My company is fully compliant and I’ve never sacrificed on quality, as my clients are mainly multinational companies”.
The company, Tampaco Foils Ltd., lists Nabisco and local affiliates of British American Tobacco and Nestle as clients on its website.
Fire department officials initially identified the factory as a garment packaging plant, but later clarified that it packs food and cigarettes. Bangladesh is the world’s second-biggest apparel exporter after China.
Can Bangladesh safety accord bring change?
Director-General Guy Ryder has said in a statement that though Bangladesh has addressed the issue, the Tampaco factory fire drives home that “there can be no room for complacency and much ground still needs to be covered”.
Mr Mikail Shipar, government secretary with the Ministry of Labour and Employment, said the government was now going to investigate safety at all of the hundreds of factories in the Tongi industrial zone. The collapse of a massive factory in Dhaka in 2013 killed over 1,100 people and led to an agreement to improve safety standards in the region.
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German news agency DPA reported that the father of one of the deceased had filed suit against the factory’s owner, Syed Mokbul Hussain, a former lawmaker, and eight others for culpable homicide.
