A team of 120 firefighters was working to put out the blaze that started on the ground floor at around 4:30pm Monday. The flames have already left at least 40 people injured and huge goods gutted in the three-storey Taiwanese textile mill.

Meanwhile, Dhaka district administration and Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority yesterday formed two separate committees to inquire into the incident.

Additional District Magistrate Golam Ahmed and BEPZA Security Councillor Zia Uddin will head the three-member committees that have been asked to submit report within a week.

Deputy Director of Fire Service and Civil Defence Selim Newaj Bhuiyan told The Daily Star at 9:00pm that they have brought the flames under control, but it would take till morning to extinguish it completely.

He said it is taking comparatively more time as the upper floors have caved in, preventing water from reaching the pile of fabrics burning on the ground floor.

The army personnel and policemen, who reached the scene soon after the fire was reported, were still there to help the firefighters.

The mill authorities have announced an indefinite leave for the workers.

DEPZ Managing Director Shamsul Haque said the extent of damage and the cause of fire could be known after investigation by the inquiry committees.