Death toll in Mirpur factory fire rises to 16

The death toll has risen to 16 in the fire as seven more bodies were recovered in a garment factory and an adjacent chemical warehouse in the capital’s Mirpur area.

“During the search campaign we so far carried out, 16 bodies were recovered . . . the bodies were recovered from the garments factory alone,” fire service spokesman Anwarul Islam told BSS this evening adding the bodies were found at the first and the second floor of the garments unit.

He said fire was suspected to have broken out from the chemical warehouse and spread later to the garments unit -- Anwar Fashion Garments Factory and Shah Alam Chemical Warehouse -- at Sialbari area of Mirpur.

The spokesman said the fire erupted at around 11:40am while the fire service in phases engaged 12 units to douse the fire.

“We have extinguished the fire at the garments unit but efforts are still underway to douse the blaze at the chemical depot,” Islam said.
Another fire official at the site told reporters said the rooftop of the four-storey garments factory was locked debarring the victims to go upstairs in open air and “they visibly died inhaling very toxic gas emitted from the fire”.

Fire officials earlier said they recovered nine bodies from the garments unit after dousing the fire at the structure but blaze at the chemical warehouse could not be completely doused.

They said eight people were rescued from the site as they received burn wounds or inhaled toxic gas.

National Institute of Burn and Plactic Surgery (NIBPS) resident surgeon Dr Shawon Bin Rahman told BSS they were treating three of the wounded people at the facility and named them as Md Suruj, 30, Md Mamun, 35 and Sohel 32.

Fire services operations director Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury said the firemen were using Luf 60 robots to douse the chemical warehouse blaze hinting that the search could start there once the fire was completely controlled.

He urged onlookers to stay at least 300 yards away from the chemical warehouse as chemicals and gas were still emitting from the scene, posing health risks as well.

“The very toxic gas is presumed to have killed all the 16 victims,” another fire service at the site told reporters.

Army troops and paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel were deployed at the scene to extend hands in dousing the fire while police’s criminal investigation department (CID) sent two teams comprising crime scene and chemical experts to gather evidence.