Disasters & Accidents

At least 6 killed in Bangladesh plastic factory fire

Dhaka, Aug 15 (EFE).- At least six people were killed on Monday in a fire at a plastic factory in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, fire service sources told EFE.

“So far we have recovered six bodies. We are searching for more bodies as the fire is now under control,” Dhaka fire service deputy assistant director Bazlur Rashid told EFE.

The fire started around midday in a three-storey building in the Chawkbazar area of old Dhaka, local Mahmudal Hasan, who witnessed the accident, told EFE.

He said that the building housed a restaurant on the first floor, apart from several shops and a plastic toy factory on the other floors.

“We suspect the victims are all restaurant workers. They were sleeping on a mat after working the night shift,” Hasan said.

Dhaka’s old city, which dates back to the Mughal rule 400 year ago, houses several factories that operate in precarious security conditions and is a densely populated neighborhood.

In February 2019, a massive fire in the same area completely gutted seven buildings, killing at least 70 people and injuring 55, while another blaze in 2010 in a nearby area caused the death of at least 124 people.

Fires and other industrial accidents are common in Bangladesh, a country with poor safety measures where such accidents often result in high death tolls.

In June, an explosion and the subsequent fire at a container depot in southeastern Bangladesh killed 41 people and wounded over 200. EFE

am-daa/ia

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