Mirpur factory fire death toll rises to 12

Twelve people have been burnt alive in a fire that ravaged a factory at Mirpur Section-1 in Dhaka, according to the latest briefing by by police.

The plastic goods factory of APCCO Bangladesh Ltd, located opposite the Sony Cinema Hall, erupted around 5:45pm on Saturday, according to the fire service.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia told reporters around 8:15pm that the police have recovered eight bodies from the spot but warned of possibilities of more casualties.

The bodies were sent to the Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospitals (SMCH), Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR).

All the bodies were later taken to the DMCH morgue.

"Eleven bodies have been now kept at the morgue while two body parts were also taken there," Dar-us-Salam Police sub-inspector (SI) Abu Bakar Siddik told reporters around 10:30pm.

It is not clear whether the parts belong to one body or two. So, police places the casualty at 12.

Three of the dead were female and the rest male, he said.

SMCH's doctor Ahmedul Kabir earlier told bdnews24.com: "Four bodies were brought here until 8pm. Two of them are of a female and a male. The rest of them are charred beyond recognition."

Earlier at around 7pm, three bodies—two female and a male— were taken to the DMCH.

Four of the injured have been admitted to the DMCH, the DMP chief told reporters.

When the firefighters were putting out the flames, Fire Service Director General (DG) Ali Ahammed Khan confirmed the death of five. He, however, then said that the death toll might rise.

Speaking to bdnews24.com immediately after the fire broke out, Dar-us-Salam Police OC Selim Uz Zaman said that fire fighters told him that eight people had been killed.

The cause of the fire at the five-storey building is yet to be confirmed, but firefighters suspect it might have been triggered by the explosion of a gas cylinder.

"It seems that an electrical short circuit started the fire and then the gas cylinder exploded causing the fire to spread," said Shakil Ahmed, the chief of the firefighting unit that fought the blaze.

Several exploded gas cylinders were seen at the factory, which used to manufacture household items made of plastic.

Locals said they had heard a huge bang before the fire broke out.

A three-member probe body has been formed to investigate the incident, the fire service DG told reporters at the spot.

The fire service initially reported that the fire broke out at a shopping mall 'Nasim Plaza', but bdnews24.com correspondents later found that a five-storey building—housing the factory—behind the shopping mall was on fire.

The fire spread through all the floors of the building. No one from the factory management could be found there.

State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu also rushed to spot.

He said that they would start an inquiry on the factory's work-environment and also look into whether there were any other factories in that residential area.