A fire that broke out in a textiles factory near the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka has killed at least 112 people, with the death toll set to rise further.
The fire broke out on Saturday night, trapping workers in a building that reportedly had no fire exits that took workers outside the building, and a number of fire exits that had chains on the doors.
The factory owner has denied that the building was unsafe to work in amid fury from victims’ families. The army had to be brought in to control angry crowds that gathered outside the burned-out factory on Sunday.
Campaign groups have called for Western companies who used the factory to accept ‘criminal negligence’ for the blaze.
Officials from the Dhaka Fire Brigade said that faulty wiring was the likely cause of the fire which spread throughout the nine-storey Tazreen Fashion factory and took over six hours to control.
The fire broke out in the basement and a number of workers were killed as they jumped from windows to escape the inferno, according to reports.
Bangladesh is the world’s second largest producer of clothing after China, and the industry is worth around $18 billion a year to the country.
A New York Times investigation found that the Tazreen factory had sales of around $35 million a year, with about 1,500 workers. There were around 600 workers in the building when the fire broke out on Saturday.
Pakistan fires
This blaze has further highlighted the problems facing factory workers in parts of SE Asia following the devastating fire in another garment factory in Karachi in September.
That fire killed at least 289 people in an appalling blaze and the owner’s of the factory were arrested shortly after. Police described their attitude towards worker’s safety as displaying “utter negligence.”
That fire led me to ask if the UN should be taking action to impose fire safety sanctions in developing countries; the poll results showed that 87% of you agreed.
‘Criminal negligence’
An Amsterdam-based pressure group the Clean Clothes Campaign said that Western companies associated with the Tazreen Fashion factory have shown “ongoing negligence” in failing to address safety issues in Bangladeshi factories such as this.
A number of Western companies are listed as customers of Tazreen Fashion on their website. Ineke Zeldenrust of the Clean Clothes Campaign said:
These brands have known for years that many of the factories they choose to work with are death traps. Their failure to take action amounts to criminal negligence.
As we yet again mourn the loss of scores of garment workers in Bangladesh, we demand that brands step up their game. Tragedy after tragedy underlines our belief that simple, cosmetic changes to existing programmes simply aren’t enough. Action needs to be taken to address the root causes of these fires.
Over 80% of factory fires in Bangladesh are caused by faulty wiring, according to the Campaign.
Campaigners are calling for brands that use garment factories in countries such as Bangladesh to support independent and transparent inspections, upgrades to any buildings supplying their brand and a commitment to pay for the associated costs.
They are also calling for worker health and safety training and government-backed inspections to ensure that wiring and safety standards are raised in Bangladesh.
Responding to allegations that the factory was unsafe to work in, factory owner Delwar Hossain told the AFP news aency: "It is a huge loss for my staff and my factory. This is the first time we have ever had a fire at one of my seven factories.”
Investigations are ongoing.
