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Second Bangladesh Factory Fire in a Week Claims More Lives

Agence France-Presse

   DHAKA - At least 10 people died in a factory fire outside the
   Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, officials said Sunday, the second deadly
   industrial blaze in four days.

   The flames engulfed a small fan factory in the Gazipur industrial
   district on Sunday evening, with firefighters extinguishing the blaze
   after a two-and-a-half hour battle.

   They found 10 bodies in the charred structure and were searching for
   more possible casualties, fire service spokesman Zillur Rahman told
   AFP.

   Officials do not yet know how many people were in the factory when the
   blaze took hold.

   The cause of the fire is not yet known.

   The latest incident followed the death of at least 17 people when an
   illegal plastic factory outside Dhaka went up in flames on Thursday.

   Industrial fires are common in Bangladesh, especially in the dry winter
   season, due to lax enforcement of safety codes.

   In February this year, a blaze in a historic Mughal building in an old
   part of Dhaka killed at least 70 people and injured dozens.

   In November 2012, at least 111 people died after a fire at a garment
   factory making apparel for Western retailers, in one of the country's
   most devastating fires.