DHAKA, Bangladesh, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A fire in a garment factory north of the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka killed at least 21 workers, 15 of them women, fire officials said.
The victims in the Thursday night fire at the Garib & Garib sweater factory in Bhogra, in the Gazipur district, died of smoke inhalation, the Bangladesh Daily Star reported, quoting fire officials.
The fire, whose cause has not been determined, broke out on the first floor of the seven-story building, forcing workers to run to the upper floors where they were overcome by rising smoke. The fire did not spread to the upper floors.
At least 30 more people were injured, some of them critically, the report said.
"We rescued 22 injured, many of whom were unconscious. Some of the workers were bleeding from the nose," fire official Abdur Rashid told the newspaper.
The factory employs about 3,500 workers, but most of them had left for the day at the time of the blaze, the report said.
