Dhaka, Oct 15: Plumes of smoke continued to billow from a charred chemical warehouse in the Bangladeshi capital on Wednesday, a day after a devastating fire claimed the lives of at least 16 people.
Fire service officials said the blaze was under control but not yet fully doused, The Daily Star newspaper reported.
At least 16 workers were killed and several others injured on Tuesday in the fire that broke out at a four-storey garment factory and a chemical warehouse in Dhaka’s Rupnagar area.
The toxic fumes emanating from the burnt chemical godown building caused several workers at an adjacent garment factory to fall sick when they arrived for duty this morning, the newspaper said, adding that smoke was still seen emerging from the gutted building.
Officials said due to the heavy smoke and presence of chemicals, rescuers are struggling to conduct operations inside.
Many workers from nearby factories were seen outside their buildings, reporting feelings of sickness due to the fumes.
A 25-year-old female worker of K-Tex Industries located in the same area said her factory was shut down after just two hours of work, the newspaper reported.
“We came to the factory around 8:00 am and worked until about 10:00 am. After that, the authorities shut the factory for today after receiving information that workers at the nearby Rising Fashion factory had fallen sick from inhaling toxic fumes,” she said.
Bangladesh has a history of industrial disasters. Past industrial tragedies have often been attributed to safety lapses.
In 2021, a fire engulfed a food and drink factory in Bangladesh, killing at least 52 people.
In February 2019, a blaze ripped through a 400-year-old area cramped with apartments, shops and warehouses in the oldest part of Dhaka and killed at least 67 people.
In 2012, about 117 workers died when they were trapped behind locked exits in a garment factory in Dhaka.
Bangladesh’s worst industrial disaster occurred the following year, when the Rana Plaza garment factory outside Dhaka collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people.
Another fire in Old Dhaka in a house illegally storing chemicals killed at least 123 people in 2010. (PTI)
