Industryweek 3285 Bangldesh Protest Promo
Industryweek 3285 Bangldesh Protest Promo
Industryweek 3285 Bangldesh Protest Promo
Industryweek 3285 Bangldesh Protest Promo
Industryweek 3285 Bangldesh Protest Promo

Bangladesh Arrests Fire Factory Managers

Nov. 28, 2012
Police arrested three managers over claims they stopped employees from leaving the burning plant.

Thousands of workers protested for a third day Wednesday after Bangladesh's worst garment factory fire as police arrested three managers over claims they stopped employees from leaving the burning plant.

At least 5,000 workers left their factories and joined the protests, pelting plants with stones and streaming through the main streets of Ashulia industrial area, just outside Dhaka and home to 500 manufacturing outlets, police said.

"They were demanding justice for the fire victims and arrest of the Tazreen owner," Faruq Ahmed, a senior Dhaka police official said.

Ahmed was referring to the garment factory in Ashulia where a weekend blaze left at least 110 people dead and more than 100 injured.

Police fired hot water from a water cannon to disperse the crowd while more than 100 factories declared an impromptu holiday for the day, fearing the protests would spread into larger-scale industrial unrest.

Police have arrested three managers of the factory hit by the weekend fire, following charges that they stopped workers from leaving the plant by insisting that an alarm was just a routine fire drill.

Dhaka police chief Habibur Rahman  said the managers allegedly told panicked workers they had nothing to worry about when the fire started on Saturday night.

"All three are mid-level managers of Tazreen. Survivors told us they did not allow the workers to escape the fire, saying it was a routine fire drill. There are also allegations they even padlocked doors," Rahman said.

More Protests Sparked by Rumors

The latest protests on Wednesday were sparked by a "rumor over a fire alarm", Dhaka police official Ahmed said.

Survivors of the weekend blaze told how workers, most of them women, tried to escape the burning factory, which supplied clothes to a variety of international brands including Walmart.

Two government inquiries have already been set up to try to establish the cause of the worst factory blaze to hit Bangladesh's garment industry, which employs three million and is the mainstay of the economy.

The shocked nation observed a day of national mourning Tuesday. Green and red Bangladeshi flags flew at half-mast alongside black flags on top of government offices and the nation's 4,500 garment factories.

Rahman said police also questioned Tazreen's owner, Delwar Hossain, about alleged violations of building rules after inspectors found the nine-storey factory only had permission for three floors.

Around 700 garment workers have been killed in dozens of fires since 2006, according to the Clean Clothes Campaign, an Amsterdam-based textile rights group. But none of the owners have been prosecuted over previous blazes.

Campaigners allege that Western firms, whose clothes are made in Bangladesh, hide behind inadequate safety audits to help drive down costs.

After European chain C&A and Hong Kong-based Li & Fung confirmed they had orders at Tazreen, the US retail giant Walmart also acknowledged some of its products were made there and said it had terminated its ties with the supplier.

Shafiq Alam, AFP

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012

Popular Sponsored Recommendations

Empowering the Modern Workforce: The Power of Connected Worker Technologies

March 1, 2024
Explore real-world strategies to boost worker safety, collaboration, training, and productivity in manufacturing. Emphasizing Industry 4.0, we'll discuss digitalization and automation...

3 Best Practices to Create a Product-Centric Competitive Advantage with PRO.FILE PLM

Jan. 25, 2024
Gain insight on best practices and strategies you need to accelerate engineering change management and reduce time to market. Register now for your opportunity to accelerate your...

Transformative Capabilities for XaaS Models in Manufacturing

Feb. 14, 2024
The manufacturing sector is undergoing a pivotal shift toward "servitization," or enhancing product offerings with services and embracing a subscription model. This transition...

Shifting Your Business from Products to Service-Based Business Models: Generating Predictable Revenues

Oct. 27, 2023
Executive summary on a recent IndustryWeek-hosted webinar sponsored by SAP

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of IndustryWeek, create an account today!