As the families of the 112 dead garment factory workers mourn their devastating losses, the textiles industry of Bangladesh has fallen into chaos this week.
Huge protests closed over 300 of the country’s 4,500 garment factories in the early part of the week and now the country’s government is saying that the industry is ‘under attack’ as a spate of fires and allegations of arson have spread across the world’s media.
The death toll of Saturday’s fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory on the outskirts of Dhaka immediately saw Western companies fighting to disassociate themselves with the company.
Wal-Mart, owners of Asda in the UK and the biggest retailer in the world, has issued a statement confirming that one of its suppliers subcontracted work to the factory without permission and their contract was to be immediately terminated.
But surely, when you’re the world’s largest retailer, you should be able to confidently say that you know the provenance of all of your products.
Since Saturday, there have been two more fires in Bangladesh factories, one on Monday and another on Tuesday which resulted from an explosion.
On Thursday, CCTV images emerged of a woman in a factory in Ashulia, the same region as Tazreen Fashions, appearing to set a fire.
The video shows a woman in a mauve scarf to the left of the picture standing behind a table with piles of clothing on it.
She then disappears from view as she crouches below the table before reappearing on the right-hand side of the picture.
If you look closely, you can then see smoke beginning to billow from the area before the woman in the mauve scarf is seen helping men with fire extinguishers.
She has been arrested by Bangladesh Police which prompted the government into their assertion that the industry was under attack.
The reasons for this are not clear but one of the most prominent theories is that workers are fighting to focus world attention on the poor working conditions of the country’s factories.
I didn’t know I needed fire exits
Meanwhile, whatever the cause of Saturday’s fire, the lacklustre fire safety standards in the country have certainly been moved into the spotlight.
In a shocking quote, the owner of the Tazreen Fashions factory apparently admitted fault but claimed he didn’t know there was no suitable fire escape.
Speaking to newspaper The Daily Star, he said: "It was my fault. But nobody told me that there was no emergency exit, which could be made accessible from outside. Nobody even advised me to install one like that, apart from the existing ones.
"I could have done it. But nobody ever suggested that I do it.”
Three senior factory workers have been arrested on suspicion of negligence but no charges have yet been brought.
Activists who have been campaigning for years are hopeful that this tragedy will finally lead to wholesale upgrades to fire safety measures in the country.
One thing that struck me watching the CCTV images of the possible attempted arson was the way that the aisles were blocked with boxes – a condition that would result in serious reprimands in the UK were a fire safety inspection to take place.
It’s things like this and the apparent lack of awareness of the Tazreen Fashions factory owner that really highlight how far behind Bangladesh is in terms of safe working conditions.
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