Smoke billows from a massive fire in Rupganj, Bangaldesh.

Gulf Today Report

At least 52 people were killed in a fire that broke out in a food factory in Bangladesh on Friday, while emergency services removed more bodies from the flames.

The fire broke out at the factory in Rupganj on Thursday afternoon, and is still burning about 24 hours after it broke out.

Many of the 30 wounded jumped from the upper floors of the building to escape the fire.

Police and eyewitnesses said the fire broke out at about 17:00 (11:00 GMT), Thursday, at the "Hashim Food & Beverage" (Hashim Food and Beverage) factory, which occupies a six-storey building in Rupganj, an industrial town near Dhaka.

Police inspector Sheikh Kabir Al-Islam said that at least 30 other people were injured when they threw themselves out of windows on the upper floors as the fire spread rapidly.

The police first announced the loss of dozens of workers, but retracted this by saying that they did not know the number of missing persons.

Firefighters rescued 25 people on the roof of the building, but they were unable to determine the losses.

"As soon as the fire is contained, we will begin the process of searching for survivors inside," said Debashish Bardhan, a spokesman for the fire department. Muhammad Seif, a worker who survived the fire, confirmed that the factory had dozens of workers. “On the third floor, the staircase doors were closed, and colleagues say there were 48 people inside. I don't know what happened to them.”

Another worker, Mamoon, said he and 13 colleagues ran to the roof when the fire broke out on the ground floor and enveloped the entire building in thick black smoke. "The firefighters pulled us down with a rope," he added.

Bangladesh, the poor country in South Asia, witnesses frequent fires and building collapses, especially in the vast textile industry, due to the lack of respect for safety measures and standards.

At least seventy people were killed in February 2019 in a massive fire that destroyed apartment buildings in Dhaka, due to the illegal storage of chemicals.

In April 2013, a garment workshop in the Rana Plaza building collapsed, killing at least 1,138 workers. The incident sparked widespread outrage around the world.