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Bangladesh arrests 3 over deadly blaze
Source: Agencies |
November 29, 2012, Thursday
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BANGLADESHI police yesterday arrested three factory officials suspected of locking in the workers who died in Saturday's fire, the deadliest in the South Asian country's less than 35-year history of exporting clothing.
Local police chief Habibur Rahman said the three will be questioned amid reports many workers trying to escape the blaze had been locked inside. He said the owner of the factory was not among those arrested.
The three officials were arrested at their homes in Savar, the Dhaka suburb where the factory is also located. Rahman did not identify the officials.
About 1,400 workers worked at the plant, some 70 percent of them women, and 112 died in the blaze. Most of the workers are from the poorest region of Bangladesh.
Workers who survived the fire say exit doors were locked, and a fire official has said far fewer people would have died if there had been even one emergency exit. Of the dead, 53 bodies were burned so badly they could not be identified; they were buried anonymously.
The fire started on the ground floor, where a factory worker named Nasima said stacks of yarn and clothes blocked part of the stairway.
Amid the ash, broken glass and melted sewing machines at what is left of the Tazreen Fashions Ltd factory, there are piles of children's shorts bearing Wal-Mart's Faded Glory brand. Shorts from hip-hop star Sean Combs' ENYCE label lay on the floor and are stacked in cartons.
A reporter searching the factory yesterday found these and other clothes, including sweaters from the French company Teddy Smith, among the equipment charred in the fire, blamed on arson, that killed 112 workers on Saturday. He also found entries in account books indicating the factory took orders to produce clothes for Disney, Sears and other Western brands.
Garments and documents left behind in the factory show it was used by a host of major American and European retailers, though at least one of them - Wal-Mart - had been aware of safety problems. Wal-Mart blames a supplier for using Tazreen Fashions without its knowledge.
The fire has elevated awareness of something labor groups, retailers and governments have known for years: Bangladesh's garment industry is rife with dangerous workplaces. More than 300 workers there have died in fires since 2006.
Local police chief Habibur Rahman said the three will be questioned amid reports many workers trying to escape the blaze had been locked inside. He said the owner of the factory was not among those arrested.
The three officials were arrested at their homes in Savar, the Dhaka suburb where the factory is also located. Rahman did not identify the officials.
About 1,400 workers worked at the plant, some 70 percent of them women, and 112 died in the blaze. Most of the workers are from the poorest region of Bangladesh.
Workers who survived the fire say exit doors were locked, and a fire official has said far fewer people would have died if there had been even one emergency exit. Of the dead, 53 bodies were burned so badly they could not be identified; they were buried anonymously.
The fire started on the ground floor, where a factory worker named Nasima said stacks of yarn and clothes blocked part of the stairway.
Amid the ash, broken glass and melted sewing machines at what is left of the Tazreen Fashions Ltd factory, there are piles of children's shorts bearing Wal-Mart's Faded Glory brand. Shorts from hip-hop star Sean Combs' ENYCE label lay on the floor and are stacked in cartons.
A reporter searching the factory yesterday found these and other clothes, including sweaters from the French company Teddy Smith, among the equipment charred in the fire, blamed on arson, that killed 112 workers on Saturday. He also found entries in account books indicating the factory took orders to produce clothes for Disney, Sears and other Western brands.
Garments and documents left behind in the factory show it was used by a host of major American and European retailers, though at least one of them - Wal-Mart - had been aware of safety problems. Wal-Mart blames a supplier for using Tazreen Fashions without its knowledge.
The fire has elevated awareness of something labor groups, retailers and governments have known for years: Bangladesh's garment industry is rife with dangerous workplaces. More than 300 workers there have died in fires since 2006.
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