Death toll from Bangladeshi factory fire rises to 40

DHAKA - The death toll from a fire engulfing a juice factory in Bangladesh's Narayanganj district, about 20 km from the capital Dhaka, has risen to 40, a senior police official said on Friday.

"Another 37 bodies were recovered on Friday afternoon, taking the number of total death toll to 40 from three last night," the district's Police chief Md Zayedul Alam told Xinhua.

According to the official, 30 more people were injured in the blaze and they were rushed to different hospitals.

But local media reports put the number of injured people at 50.

A total of 18 firefighting units managed to bring the fire at the six-storey building of the local factory under control, after hours of fighting, said the official.

But local media reports say the fire in the factory has not yet been completely doused though it was almost under control since Thursday night.

TV reports showed fires were still raging in some parts of the factory.

A spokesman of the factory was not immediately available for comment.

Officials said the fire originated from the ground floor of the six-storey building, and spread quickly to several other upper floors because of the presence of chemicals and plastic materials.

Md Abdul Al Arefin, Narayanganj District Fire Service and Civil Defence deputy director, said they have come to know that the fire originated from a welding accident at around 5:30 pm local time Thursday.

He said they rescued 12 workers who were trapped on various floors of the factory after the fire erupted on the ground floor.

The official said the death toll might go up as many people had sustained critical injuries.