Eight more workers, who were severely burnt in yesterday’s factory fire in Keraniganj, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital this morning.

With this, the death toll from the fire at the plastic factory in Hijoltola area, on the outskirts of Dhaka, raised to 9.

Yesterday, at least one worker was killed and 33 others were severely burnt in the fire. Ten of them suffered 100 percent burns and the rest have burns in at least 20 percent of their bodies.

Of the injured, eight workers died at the burn unit of the hospital between 2:00 am and 9:00 am, DMCH Resident Surgeon Dr Nabin told The Daily Star.

Identities of the deceased could not be known immediately.

One of the injured workers Zakir Hossain, 22, said the fire broke out at a room where eight cylinders of inflammable gas were kept. He added that there was a leak in the lines.

Around 300 people worked in two shifts at Prime Patent Plastic Limited. Around 150 people, including many women, were working when the fire started, said Zakir, who has been working there for the last four years for a monthly salary of Tk 12,000.

“We were trying to douse the fire using extinguishers and hosepipes inside the factory when we heard an explosion and there were flames all around us. Most of the workers got injured instantly,” he told The Daily Star at the DMCH.

Police said the fire broke out around 4:15pm and engulfed the large tin shack quickly.

The factory used to manufacture single-use plastic glasses and plates.

After around one and a half hours of relentless effort, 10 fire engines from Fire Service Headquarters, Postagola and Keraniganj doused the fire around 6:10pm, officials said.

Source: The Daily Star.