Bangladesh garment factory fire kills 16, toll may rise, official says

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

"Sixteen bodies have been recovered from the second and third floors of the garment factory," fire service director Tajul Islam Chowdhury said, adding that the number of deaths could rise as recovery operations were continuing.

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

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.