Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Four more bodies were recovered on Sunday evening from Gazipur’s Tempaco Foils Limited raising the factory disaster death toll to 29 with many more missing.
The deadly boiler blast caused a fire at the packaging factory in Tongi BSCIC industrial area of Bangladesh in the early hours of Saturday, leaving 24 people, mostly workers, killed and 50 injured.
On early Sunday, Ripon Das, 30, succumbed at the ICU of the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) around 2:30am (local time), said Partha Sarkar Pal, residential surgeon of the hospital.
The explosion was huge and the fire triggered by the blast spread quickly because flammable chemicals and oil drums were stored at the factory, according to the fire officials.
A fresh fire broke out at a portion of the building of Tampaco Foils Limited's factory in Tongi BSCIC industrial area at 10:55am on Sunday.
Several volunteers who were working inside the factory came out of the building due to the thick smoke triggered by the fresh fire.
About 25 units of fire services were working at the scene to bring the situation under control around 11:15am, according to reports.
The factory, owned by Dr Syed Mokbul Hussain, a former Member of Parliament from Sylhet-6 constituency, manufactures foil paper for tobacco companies and food-packaging companies.
Three separate investigations have been launched over the factory fire. The Gazipur administration formed one five-member body headed by an additional district magistrate.
About 150 people were working in the morning shift when the explosion took place at 6:15am. The number of total people during explosion was not confirmed as none from authorities was available for verification.
A floor helper, who identified himself as Asad, said there were more people than a usual shift during the explosion as it was time of shift change.
He said more than 200 people were there in the factory during explosion.
A staff member of the factory, seeking anonymity, said the boiler was set up to use for five years. But the factory owners had been using it for eight years.
Lax safety measures have been attributed to a series of accidents in the country's factories over the years. A fire at a readymade garment factory named Tazrin Fashions at Savar in 2012 killed over 100 people. It was followed by the 2013 collapse of a factory building named Rana Plaza in the same area that left over 1,100 people dead.
BBN/SSR/AD