At least nine people were killed and eight others injured after a massive fire broke out at a building housing a chemical warehouse and a garment factory in Dhaka’s Mirpur area on Tuesday, according to local media reports.
Lt Col Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, director (operations and maintenance) of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, told reporters, “Nine bodies have been recovered so far. We suspect that all of them have died after inhaling toxic gas.” He added that firefighters were continuing search operations inside the building.
The fire, which started around 11:40 a.m. in the Shialbari area of Mirpur, quickly spread through the building. “The search operation is still going on,” Chowdhury said.
Talha Bin Jashim, an officer at the Fire Service and Civil Defence Media Wing, said they received information about the blaze at 11:40 a.m., and the first team reached the site at 11:56 a.m. Seven firefighting units were deployed to bring the flames under control.
According to the state-run BSS news agency, the fire spread through two connected buildings, severely damaging the garment factory and the chemical warehouse.
Bangla daily Prothom Alo reported that the bodies were recovered from the first and second floors of the factory.
Authorities said the cause of the fire and the identities of the victims are yet to be determined.