At least 25 killed in explosion and fire at Bangladesh factory

DHAKA: At least 25 people have been killed and 70 injured, many critically, in a huge fire triggered by a boiler explosion at a Bangladeshi packaging factory, officials

DHAKA: At least 25 people have been killed and 70 injured, many critically, in a huge fire triggered by a boiler explosion at a Bangladeshi packaging factory, officials said Saturday as firefighters struggled to contain the blaze.

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Around 100 people were working when flames tore through the four-storey building in the industrial town of Tongi, just north of the capital Dhaka.

Parvez Mia, a doctor at the Tongi government hospital, said the death toll was at 25, up from 22 previously reported, and said at least 70 people were injured.

The fire started in the boiler room at the Tampaco Foils Limited factory, which supplies foreign and domestic brands.

“We still have not controlled the blaze and we fear some workers are still trapped,” police inspector Aminul Islam told AFP.

Mia, the doctor, said seriously injured victims had been sent to hospitals in the capital Dhaka.

Factory electrician Mohammad Rokon, 35, escaped with minor injuries.

“I was working inside the office room when I heard an explosion and felt a tremor. Then suddenly the ceiling started to fall on me,” he told AFP from his hospital observation bed. “I almost became unconscious. But I forced myself to go out with the help of my mobile phone’s flashlight.”

Machine operator Rubel Hossain was two minutes away from entering the factory when the blast occurred.