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At least five people were killed after a fire tore through a gas lighter factory near Dhaka on Saturday afternoon.
The blaze broke out in Keraniganj, a heavily industrialised area on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital. Seven firefighting units were deployed and they brought the fire under control by 2.30pm, less than two hours after it was reported, the fire service said.
The five bodies recovered were burned beyond recognition and could not immediately be identified, Anwarul Islam, an officer with the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence, told reporters. Search operations were continuing and the cause of the fire remained under investigation.
Footage from the scene showed thick columns of black smoke rising above the densely built-up neighbourhood as flames tore through the low-rise tin-shed structure. Crowds of onlookers gathered in the narrow surrounding streets despite the active blaze, with some appearing to attempt to salvage items from the scene.
Gas lighter factories present particular fire risks given the flammable materials involved in production, and the tin-shed construction common in industrial areas on Dhaka's outskirts offers little structural resistance to fast-moving fires.
Keraniganj has seen a rise in chemical and manufacturing industries in recent years, partly as a result of government efforts to relocate hazardous industries away from densely populated Old Dhaka following a series of devastating fires.
A 2010 blaze at a chemical warehouse in the Nimtali area of the capital killed 124 people, making it one of the deadliest industrial fires in Bangladesh's history, and prompted authorities to identify Keraniganj as a relocation site. A planned chemical industrial park was later moved further out to Sirajdikhan in Munshiganj due to space constraints and remains under construction.
Bangladesh has long struggled with industrial fire safety. The 2012 Tazreen Fashions garment factory fire and the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013, which killed more than 1,100 workers, prompted international pressure for stronger safety standards, though enforcement has remained inconsistent.
