A massive blaze in a Bangladesh factory on Thursday killed three people and injured at least 30, with some people jumping from the upper floors to escape the fire, police said.
It was unclear how many people were trapped inside, although distraught relatives outside and other factory workers said that they feared that others might have not escaped.
Fires are common in Bangladesh due to lax enforcement of safety rules.
Photo: Reuters
In February 2019, 70 people died when an inferno ripped through several apartment blocks in the capital, Dhaka.
Police and witnesses said that Thursday’s fire broke out at Hashem Food and Beverage factory in Rupganj, an industrial town outside Dhaka, at about 5:00pm on Thursday and was still raging yesterday morning.
“Three people have died after they sustained burn injuries,” Jayedul Alam, a regional police chief, told reporters.
At least 30 people were injured, including some who jumped from the upper floor after the fire quickly raced through the six-story factory, police inspector Sheikh Kabirul Islam said.
Police initially said that dozens of workers were still missing, but later retracted the information, saying that they were unsure how many people were unaccounted for.
Firefighters rescued 25 people from the roof of the factory, which produced noodles and drinks, but could not confirm further casualties.
“Once the fire is under control, we will conduct a search and rescue operation inside. Then we can confirm any further casualties, if any,” said Debashish Bardhan, a local fire department spokesman.
Mohammad Saiful, a factory worker who escaped the fire, said that there were dozens of people inside when the blaze began.
“On the third floor, gates on both stairwells were closed. Other colleagues are saying there were 48 people inside,” he said. “I don’t know what happened to them.”
Mamun, another worker, said that he and another 13 workers ran to the roof after the fire broke out in the ground floor and black smoke covered the whole factory.
“Fire fighters brought us down by using rope,” he said.
As clouds of smoke billowed from the factory, hundreds of distraught people gathered outside to find out updates of their kins.
One of them was Nazrul Islam, who said: “We came here because my niece was not receiving our phone calls for a while. And now the phone is not ringing at all. We are worried.”
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