The cause of the fire in the Tongi industrial zone about 20 km (12 miles) north of the capital, Dhaka, was not immediately known, but officials said a boiler explosion probably triggered the blaze.
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According to officials, the fire broke out Saturday after an explosion in the boiler room at the four-story building. In 2013, more than 1,100 workers died in a building collapse that ranks as the country’s worst industrial disaster.
Almost 100 people were reported to have been working inside the factory when flames spread through the building.
Several bodies were recovered from the Tampaco Foils Ltd. factory in the Tongi industrial area outside Dhaka, fire official Mohammed Rafiquzzaman said.
Nineteen people were brought to the state-run Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where three of them succumbed to burn injuries, said police official Mohammed Bacchu Mia. Gazipur Deputy Commissioner SM Alam told Dhaka Tribune that a five-member commission was formed to investigate the accident.
At least 24 workers were killed when their factory was ripped apart by a massive fire today. “Now he is going to be buried there”, said Khaleda Begum, the sister of a worker killed in the accident.
Low-priced manufacturing is a mainstay of Bangladesh’s economy, but a series of industrial disasters in recent years have raised concerns about safety standards.
In 2012, 112 factory workers died in a fire outside of Dhaka and past year, 13 workers suffered the same fate in a plastic factory fire.
But thousands of local factories supplying the domestic market have done little to address safety concerns.
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The factory makes, among many other things, foil for cigarette packs for British American Tobacco and snack-food packaging for Nestle.
