DHAKA: At least 13 people were killed and more than a dozen injured on Saturday when a fire broke out in a plastic factory in Bangladesh’s capital, emergency service officials said.

Police and fire officers believe the blaze started when gas cylinders exploded in the factory’s boiler room, then raced through the four-storey Nasim Plastic factory in minutes.

“We’ve recovered 13 bodies,” local police chief Mohammad Jashimuddin said, adding the fire was brought under control in around two hours and that the factory floors had been thoroughly searched.

“Three people were critically burnt and they were shifted to a hospital”, he added.

A fire official said those who died were plastic factory workers who were burnt or suffocated after they were trapped on the upper floors.

“It was a big fire, which was originated in the boiler room after loud explosions. Walls of the buildings collapsed due to the impact of the explosions,” he said, as he was not authorised to speak to the press.

Published in Dawn February 1st, 2015

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