Bangladesh factory fire kills at least 10

Local police say firefighters still searching property

Fire accidents in factories, many of which operate illegally and without proper fire safety measures, are common in Bangladesh.  AP Photo / Hasan Raza

At least 10 people were killed on Sunday when a fire swept through a fan factory near Bangladesh's capital, authorities said.

It is the second accident of this type in the South Asian country in less than a week,

Firefighters recovered 10 bodies as the blaze ripped through the three-storey factory at Gazipur, on the outskirts of Dhaka, said local police official Jabedul Islam. It is not yet clear how many people were injured.

The cause of the blaze and number of people inside the factory were also unknown, Mr Islam said.

He said firefighters were still searching the property and it took them two hours to bring the fire under control.

The accident comes four days after a devastating fire at a plastics factory, which was operating without proper government permission, just outside Dhaka killed at least 19 people.

Such accidents in factories, many of which operate illegally and without proper fire safety measures, are common in Bangladesh.

The Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013 killed more than 1,100 workers. and a fire in a garment factory in 2012 killed 112 people.