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Massive fire erupts in Bangladesh factory, 52 people dead

On Friday, a massive fire ripped through a Bangladesh factory, killing at least 52 people who were trapped by flames and forced to leap for their lives from upper floors, according to emergency services. The fire injured about 30 people, and hundreds of distraught relatives and other workers waited outside the food factory as the fire raged.

The fire was the latest disaster to mar Bangladesh’s safety record, which has already been marred by a string of disasters in industrial complexes and apartment buildings. Since the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, when a nine-story building collapsed, killing over 1,100 people, the country has promised reforms. However, critics claim that safety standards are still lacking. In February 2019, an inferno ripped through Dhaka apartments where chemicals were illegally stored, killing at least 70 people.

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On Thursday afternoon, a fire broke out at Hashem Food and Beverage factory in Rupganj, an industrial town outside of Dhaka, and was still burning nearly 24 hours later. Normally, the building would have over 1,000 employees, but many had left for the day when the fire broke out. As firefighters reached the third floor, they discovered 49 more bodies, bringing the total death toll to three.

‘The workers couldn’t get to the rooftop because the stairwell’s exit door was padlocked,’ said Debashish Bardhan of the fire department. They couldn’t go down because the fire had already spread to the lower floors.’

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People watching in the streets screamed anguishedly and cried as the charred victims were loaded into a fleet of ambulances to be transported to morgues. According to police inspector Sheikh Sheikh Kabirul Islam, ‘Hundreds of people were dispersed by police after they blocked nearby roads and clashed with officers. As flames engulfed the six-story building, more than 30 people were injured, and some jumped from the upper floors.’

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