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Bangladesh factory fire kills 16 near Dhaka chemical warehouse

The fire started on the third floor of a seven-storey factory, before spreading to a chemical warehouse that stored bleaching powder

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Smoke rises from a building as fire broke out at a garment factory and a chemical warehouse in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters
Reuters

A fire at a garment factory in Bangladesh and a nearby chemical warehouse on Tuesday killed at least 16 people and injured several, with the death toll expected to rise as rescue efforts continued, an official said.

“Sixteen bodies have been recovered from the second and third floors of the garment factory,” fire service director Tajul Islam Chowdhury said.

He said the cause of the blaze wasn’t immediately known.

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The fire broke out at around midday on the third floor of the seven-storey factory in the Mirpur area of the capital Dhaka, before spreading to a chemical warehouse storing bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, Talha Bin Jashim, another fire department official said, citing witnesses.

Grief-stricken relatives gathered in search of their loved ones, some clutching photographs.

A relative mourns while holding a picture of a missing girl following a fire that broke out at a garment factory and a chemical warehouse in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters
A relative mourns while holding a picture of a missing girl following a fire that broke out at a garment factory and a chemical warehouse in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

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