RupgAnj, Bangladesh: A massive blaze tore through a Bangladesh factory killing at least 52 people trapped by flames that forced workers to leap for their lives from upper floors, emergency services said on Friday. About 30 people were injured in the fire, and hundreds of distraught relatives and other workers waited anxiously outside the food factory as it continued to rage. The inferno was the latest to tarnish Bangladesh”s safety record marred by a series of disasters in industrial complexes and apartment buildings. 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 apartments 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.
