Survivors of Saturday night's fire joined several thousand colleagues blocking a highway during a march in the manufacturing hub of Ashulia, outside the capital Dhaka, with some protesters throwing stones at one factory.
DHAKA - Garment workers in Bangladesh staged mass protests on Monday to demand the end of "deathtrap" labor conditions after the country's worst-ever textile factory fire in which 110 employees died.
Survivors of Saturday night's fire joined several thousand colleagues blocking a highway during a march in the manufacturing hub of Ashulia, outside the capital Dhaka, with some protesters throwing stones at one factory.
Bangladesh's chief inspector of factories Habibul Islam told AFP that the nine-story Tazreen factory where the blaze broke out, which was built in 2009, had permission for only three stories.
"They expanded the building without our approval," he said.
Ashulia's more than 500 factories, which make apparel for top global retailers such as Wal-Mart, H&M and Tesco, declared a "holiday," fearing that the protests could worsen and turn into large-scale unrest.
"Most workers are in shock. They want to see safety improvements to these deathtrap factories," Babul Akter, head of a garment union, told AFP.
The protesters chanted slogans, including a demand for Tazreen's bosses to be brought to justice.
Local police chief Badrul Alam said officers had opened a murder investigation as a result of criminal negligence.
Two government inquiries and the police investigation are trying to establish if the owners were to blame for the fire, though the cause has not yet been determined.
"We won't spare anyone," Alam promised as the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced a day of mourning for the dead on Tuesday, when all factories will also be closed.
