Bangladesh garment factory fire kills nine: officials

Authorities said that at least nine people died and one person was injured in a fire that broke out at a garment factory and an adjacent chemical warehouse in Bangladesh, and the death toll is expected to rise as rescue efforts continue.

“Nine bodies were recovered from the second and third floors of the garment factory,” fire chief Tajul Islam Chowdhury said, adding that the death toll could rise as rescue operations continue.

He said the cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Another official from the Fire and Civil Defense department, citing eyewitnesses, said that the fire started on the third floor of the seven-storey factory in Dhaka’s Mirpur district and then spread to the chemical warehouse where bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide were stored.

Chowdhury said the factory owners have not been identified yet.

“The police and army are looking for them.”

When asked whether the chemical warehouse has an operating license, he said: “We do not know the license yet. However, as far as we have heard, it is illegal. We will be able to confirm this when the investigation is completed.”

Poor fire and building safety standards lead to dozens of such disasters in Bangladesh each year, and past accidents have tarnished the powerful textile industry, which employs four million people and accounts for more than 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

While eight fire departments brought the fire at the factory under control after about three hours, the fire in the warehouse continued.