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Bangladesh factory fire kills at least 52, workers jump from upper floors to escape
- About 30 people were injured in the blaze that broke out at a food and beverage factory in Rupganj
- A Dhaka fire department official said the inferno took off because highly flammable chemicals and plastics had been stockpiled inside
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A massive blaze tore through a Bangladesh factory killing at least 52 people trapped by flames that forced many workers to leap for their lives from upper floors, emergency services said on Friday.
About 30 people were injured and hundreds of distraught relatives and other workers waited anxiously outside the food factory as the fire continued to rage.
The inferno was the latest to tarnish Bangladesh’s safety record marred by a series of disasters in industrial complexes and residential buildings.
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The country has pledged reforms since the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013 when a nine-storey complex collapsed killing more than 1,100 people. But critics say safety standards are still lax.
In February 2019, at least 70 people died when an inferno ripped through Dhaka flats where chemicals were illegally stored.
The latest fire broke out at Hashem Food and Beverage factory in Rupganj, an industrial town outside Dhaka, on Thursday afternoon and was still raging almost 24 hours later.
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