At least 52 killed, 25 injured in Bangladesh factory fire

(Update 1: adds details)

Dhaka, Jul 9 (EFE).- At least 52 people were killed and 25 injured in a massive fire at a food and beverages factory close to Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, authorities said on Friday.

Of the deceased, 49 had died on the spot and three others later in a hospital, the fire service of Narayanganj, where the accident took place, said in an official statement, also confirming that 25 people had been wounded in the fire.

However, it was not immediately clear how many people remained missing.

The deputy inspector general of Dhaka police, Habibur Rahman, told reporters at the site that many people had complained about missing relatives and the authorities were preparing a list in this regard.

Assistant police inspector of industrial police, Joytirmoy Saha, told EFE that 250 workers had been working in the factory at the time of the incident according to locals.

“But not all of them might have been trapped in fire. Some managed to go out,” Saha said.

The massive fire broke out at the Hashem food and beverages factory on Thursday evening, and firefighters spent hours trying to put out the blaze that swept through the six-floor building.

The intense heat of the fire caused cracks in the building, as glass and aluminum melted under the high temperatures.

The fire was finally brought under control on Friday morning, after which the search for bodies and survivors was intensified.