Bangledesh: Sounds Like 2012 Triangel Shirtwaist Fire

[Annie]

Terrible:

Bangladesh garment factory fire kills 120 - Yahoo! News

Bangladesh garment factory fire kills 120
Reuters – 1 hr 46 mins ago

DHAKA (Reuters) - A fire swept through a garment factory on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital, killing at least 120 people, the chief of the fire brigade said on Sunday, in the worst accident for the booming industry in recent years.

The fire at the nine-story factory in the Ashulia industrial belt started on the ground floor late on Saturday and quickly spread, trapping hundreds of workers.

"This morning we have recovered 120 dead bodies and the death toll could rise," Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah, director general of the fire brigade, told reporters.

Bangladesh has around 4,500 garment factories that make clothes for brands including Tesco, Wal-Mart, JC Penney, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Kohl's and Carrefour.

Witnesses said the workers, mostly women, ran for safety as the fire engulfed the plant, but were unable to come out through narrow exits.

"Many jumped out from the windows and were injured, or died on the spot," Milon, a resident, said

The fire leapt high into the sky and could be seen from miles (kms) away.

Bangladesh is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China, with garments making up 80 percent of its $24 billion annual exports.

But safety standards at the factories are poor and not enforced strictly, causing scores of accidents each year.

"We are appalled to see the charred bodies coming out of the factory since last night. It was an endless stream," Milon said...

 

[waltky]

Bangladesh sweatshop fire spurs protest...

Thousands of Bangladeshis protest after factory fire that killed 112
November 26, 2012 – Thousands of Bangladeshi workers blocked the streets of a Dhaka suburb Monday, throwing stones at factories and smashing vehicles, as they demanded justice for 112 people killed in a garment-factory fire that highlighted how industry and government have failed to protect workers from unsafe conditions.

Some 200 factories were closed for the day after the protest erupted in Savar, the industrial zone where Saturday's deadly fire occurred. Protesters blocked a major highway. The government announced that Tuesday will be a day of national mourning, with the national flag flying at half-mast in honor of the dead. Investigators suspect that a short circuit caused the fire, said Maj. Mohammad Mahbub, fire department operations director. But he said it was not the fire itself but the lack of safety measures in the eight-story building that made it so deadly. "Had there been at least one emergency exit through outside the factory, the casualties would have been much lower," Mahbub said. He said firefighters recovered at least 100 bodies from the factory, and 12 more people died at hospitals after jumping from the building to escape the fire. Local media reported that up to 124 people were killed.

Mohammad Ripu, a survivor, said Monday that he tried to run out of the building when the fire alarm rang but was stopped. "Managers told us, `Nothing happened. The fire alarm had just gone out of order. Go back to work,"' Ripu said. "But we quickly understood that there was a fire. As we again ran for the exit point we found it locked from outside, and it was too late." Ripu said he jumped from a second-floor window and suffered minor injuries. Mahbub said the fire broke out on the ground floor, which was used as a warehouse, and spread quickly to the upper floors. He said many workers who retreated to the roof were rescued, but dozens of others were trapped; firefighters recovered 69 bodies from the second floor alone. Many victims were burned beyond recognition. The bodies were laid out in rows at a school nearby. Many of them were handed over to families; unclaimed victims were taken to Dhaka Medical College for identification.

The garment-factory fire was Bangladesh's deadliest in recent memory, but such dangers have long been a fact of life as the industry has mushroomed to meet demand from major retailers around the world. The factory is owned by Tazreen Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of the Tuba Group. Neither Tazreen nor Tuba Group officials could be reached for comment. The Tuba Group is a major Bangladeshi garment exporter whose clients include Wal-Mart, Carrefour and IKEA, according to its website. Its factories export garments to the U.S., Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, among other countries. The Tazreen factory, which opened in 2009 and employed about 1,700 people, made polo shirts, fleece jackets and T-shirts.

Tazreen was given a "high risk" safety rating after a May 16, 2011, audit conducted by an "ethical sourcing" assessor for Wal-Mart, according to a document posted on the Tuba Group's website. It did not specify what led to the rating. Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Gardner said online documents indicating an orange or "high risk" assessment after the May 2011 inspection and a yellow or "medium risk" report after an inspection in August 2011 appeared to pertain to the factory. The August 2011 letter said Wal-Mart would conduct another inspection within one year.

Read more: Thousands of Bangladeshis protest after factory fire that killed 112 | Fox News

 

[editec]

Terrible:

Bangladesh garment factory fire kills 120 - Yahoo! News

Bangladesh garment factory fire kills 120
Reuters – 1 hr 46 mins ago

DHAKA (Reuters) - A fire swept through a garment factory on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital, killing at least 120 people, the chief of the fire brigade said on Sunday, in the worst accident for the booming industry in recent years.

The fire at the nine-story factory in the Ashulia industrial belt started on the ground floor late on Saturday and quickly spread, trapping hundreds of workers.

"This morning we have recovered 120 dead bodies and the death toll could rise," Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah, director general of the fire brigade, told reporters.

Bangladesh has around 4,500 garment factories that make clothes for brands including Tesco, Wal-Mart, JC Penney, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Kohl's and Carrefour.

Witnesses said the workers, mostly women, ran for safety as the fire engulfed the plant, but were unable to come out through narrow exits.

"Many jumped out from the windows and were injured, or died on the spot," Milon, a resident, said

The fire leapt high into the sky and could be seen from miles (kms) away.

Bangladesh is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China, with garments making up 80 percent of its $24 billion annual exports.

But safety standards at the factories are poor and not enforced strictly, causing scores of accidents each year.

"We are appalled to see the charred bodies coming out of the factory since last night. It was an endless stream," Milon said...

They ought to contact the International Ladies and Garment Workers Union

 

[Mad Scientist]

That's Globalism. That's Free Trade.

 

[waltky]

Bangladesh sweatshop fire deadlier than most...

Factory fire the deadliest of many in Bangladesh
Nov 26,`12 -- The fire alarm: Waved off by managers. An exit door: Locked. The fire extinguishers: Not working and apparently "meant just to impress" inspectors and customers.

That is the picture survivors paint of the garment-factory fire Saturday that killed 112 people who were trapped inside or jumped to their deaths in desperation. For Bangladesh, where such factories commonly ignore safety as they rush to produce for retailers around the world, the tragedy was unusual only in scope: More than 200 people have died in garment-factory fires in the country since 2006. About 15,000 Bangladeshi workers protested blocks from the gutted fire Monday, demanding justice for the victims and improved safety. Some 200 factories were closed for the day after the protest erupted in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka, the capital.

Protesters blocked a major highway, and some threw stones at factories and smashed vehicles, but there were no arrests and no clashes with police. Maj. Mohammad Mahbub, fire department operations director, said investigators suspect that a short circuit caused the fire at the factory, which was making T-shirts and polo shirts. But the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association urged investigators not to rule out sabotage. "Local and international conspirators are trying to destroy our garment industry," association President Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin said. He provided no details.

Mahbub said it was not the fire itself but the lack of safety measures in the eight-story building that made the blaze so deadly. "Had there been at least one emergency exit through outside the factory, the casualties would have been much lower," he said. He said firefighters recovered at least 100 bodies from the factory, and 12 more people died at hospitals after jumping from the building to escape the fire. The government was unable to identify many victims because they were burned beyond recognition; they were buried Monday in a grave outside Dhaka. The government announced that Tuesday will be a day of national mourning, with the national flag flying at half-staff in honor of the dead.

Local media reported that up to 124 people were killed, and that about 100 people injured in the fire were being treated in about a dozen hospitals. Many were hurt as they jumped to escape the flames. Survivor Mohammad Ripu said Monday that he tried to run out of the building when the fire alarm rang but was stopped. "Managers told us, `Nothing happened. The fire alarm had just gone out of order. Go back to work,'" Ripu said. "But we quickly understood that there was a fire. As we again ran for the exit point we found it locked from outside, and it was too late." Ripu said he jumped from a second-floor window and suffered minor injuries. Another surviving worker, Yeamin, who uses only one name, said fire extinguishers in the factory didn't work, "So these were meant just to impress the buyers or authority."

MORE

See also:

Bangladesh clothing factory fire comes amid preparations to mourn other deaths
Mon November 26, 2012 - Firefighters took about four hours to control blaze in Uttara that injured 10 people; National mourning announced for people killed in Ashulia fire, Shahidullah overpass collapse; Government: Apparel factories will be closed Tuesday, prayers will be offered for victims; Police report 110 deaths in the fire at Tazreen Fashion at Ashulia

As Bangladesh prepared to mourn the deaths of more than 100 clothing factory workers, firefighters battled a blaze at another apparel factory near Dhaka on Monday. Police and witnesses said the new fire, at a 10-story clothing factory in the suburb of Uttara, began Monday morning, and firefighters took about four hours to bring it under control. "Firefighters have brought the flames under control and no one died in the incident," Brigadier Gen. Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah, director general of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense, told reporters.

The Bangladesh government, at a Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, announced a period of national mourning Tuesday. The mourning will mark the Saturday deaths of factory workers in Ashulia and overpass collapse victims in Chittagong, Cabinet Secretary M. Musharraf Hossain said. The government also announced that all apparel factories would be closed Tuesday and special prayers would be offered at mosques, churches and temples. The government also ordered an investigation of the cause of the fire and the deaths, and it asked two committees to file reports within a week.

Local police said at least 10 people were injured in Uttara on Monday as they jumped from windows to flee the fire. They said the fire began on the second floor, where a large quantity of fabric and yarn were stored, and it spread immediately to the fourth floor. Meanwhile, thousands of workers from dozens of clothing factories at Ashulia took to the streets Monday morning to protest the deaths of their colleagues. The protesters blocked highway traffic and demonstrated for several hours. "We deployed huge contingents of police, and no violent incidents happened there," Dhaka District Police Superintendent Habibur Rahman told CNN.

Police reported 110 deaths in the fire at Tazreen Fashion at Ashulia. All the bodies were handed over to relatives, except for 59 charred ones that will be buried under government supervision after DNA samples are extracted. The country has around 4,500 garment factories that make clothes for brands including Tesco, Wal-Mart, JC Penney, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Kohl's and Carrefour. The sector earned $19 billion in the financial year that ended in June 2012. The state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha recently reported that fires kill about 6,000 people every year in Bangladesh.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/26/world/asia/bangladesh-fire-mourning/

 

[Katzndogz]

Terrible:

Bangladesh garment factory fire kills 120 - Yahoo! News

Bangladesh garment factory fire kills 120
Reuters – 1 hr 46 mins ago

DHAKA (Reuters) - A fire swept through a garment factory on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital, killing at least 120 people, the chief of the fire brigade said on Sunday, in the worst accident for the booming industry in recent years.

The fire at the nine-story factory in the Ashulia industrial belt started on the ground floor late on Saturday and quickly spread, trapping hundreds of workers.

"This morning we have recovered 120 dead bodies and the death toll could rise," Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah, director general of the fire brigade, told reporters.

Bangladesh has around 4,500 garment factories that make clothes for brands including Tesco, Wal-Mart, JC Penney, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Kohl's and Carrefour.

Witnesses said the workers, mostly women, ran for safety as the fire engulfed the plant, but were unable to come out through narrow exits.

"Many jumped out from the windows and were injured, or died on the spot," Milon, a resident, said

The fire leapt high into the sky and could be seen from miles (kms) away.

Bangladesh is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China, with garments making up 80 percent of its $24 billion annual exports.

But safety standards at the factories are poor and not enforced strictly, causing scores of accidents each year.

"We are appalled to see the charred bodies coming out of the factory since last night. It was an endless stream," Milon said...

They ought to contact the International Ladies and Garment Workers Union

There isn't an ILGW anymore. It was taken over the SEIU, curses be upon them.

 

[waltky]

Granny says Wal-mart in coverin' it's butt mode...

Wal-Mart distances itself from Bangladesh factory fire (+video)
November 26, 2012 - 112 people died when a garment factory caught fire in Bangladesh on Saturday. The workers had been making clothes for Wal-Mart, though the retail giant said it was unaware of the contract.

The garment factory in Bangladesh where a weekend fire killed at least 112 people had been making clothes for Wal-Mart without the giant US retailer's knowledge, Wal-Mart said. Wal-Mart said the Tazreen Fashions Ltd. factory was no longer authorized to produce merchandise for Wal-Mart but that a supplier subcontracted work to it "in direct violation of our policies." "Today, we have terminated the relationship with that supplier," America's biggest retailer said in its statement Monday. "The fact that this occurred is extremely troubling to us, and we will continue to work across the apparel industry to improve fire safety education and training in Bangladesh."

The blaze on Saturday was one of the deadliest fires at a garment factory in Bangladesh and highlighted how its garment factories often ignore safety in the rush to supply major retailers in the US and Europe. More than 300 people have died over the past six years in garment factory fires in the South Asian country. Survivors of the weekend fire said an exit door was locked, fire extinguishers didn't work and apparently were there just to impress inspectors, and that when the fire alarm went off, bosses told workers to return to their sewing machines. Victims were trapped or jumped to their deaths from the eight-story building, which had no emergency exits.

On Monday, about 15,000 Bangladeshi workers protested blocks from the gutted building in the Dhaka suburb of Savar, demanding justice for the victims and improved safety. Some 200 factories were closed for the day after the protest erupted. Demonstrators blocked a major highway, threw stones at factories and smashed vehicles. Labor leaders hope outrage over the latest disaster will prompt change. Tahmina Rahman, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Federation, said government needs to do more to punish factories for safety lapses. "The owners go unpunished and so they don't care about installing enough security facilities," she said. "The owners should be held responsible and sent to jail."

Wal-Mart did not say why it dropped the Tazreen factory. But in its 2012 Global Responsibility report, Wal-Mart said it stopped working with 49 factories in Bangladesh in 2011 because of fire safety issues. And online records appear to indicate the Tazreen factory was given a "high risk" safety rating after an inspection in May 2011 and a "medium risk" rating in August 2011. For more than a day after the fire, Wal-Mart said it could not confirm whether it was still doing business with Tazreen, which was making T-shirts and polo shirts. The uncertainty illustrated how major retailers in the US and Europe rely on a highly complex chain of foreign manufacturers and middlemen to keep their shelves stocked.

MORE & Video

See also:

Wal-Mart sacks supplier after factory fire
Wed, Nov 28, 2012 - BANGLADESH DISASTER: The interior minister said a preliminary inquiry found a deadly blaze on Saturday was the result of arson, as the nation mourned the deaths

Wal-Mart Stores, the world’s largest retailer, fired a supplier that made apparel at a Bangladesh factory where more than 110 people died in the country’s deadliest ever blaze at a garment facility. “The Tazreen factory was no longer authorized to produce merchandise for Wal-Mart,” Kevin Gardner, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement. “A supplier subcontracted work to this factory without authorization and in direct violation of our policies. Today, we have terminated the relationship with that supplier.” Gardner declined to name the supplier. The factory, owned by Tazreen Fashion, had no emergency exits, and many workers were burnt alive, as they got trapped in heavy smoke, said Muhammad Mahboob, a director at the Fire Service and Civil Defense.

Some workers jumped from the eight-story building to escape the flames, according to Mohammad Sharif, who runs a local grocery store and whose parents-in-law worked at the plant. At least 124 people were killed in the fire on Saturday, said Habibur Rahman, superintendent of police for Dhaka. Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, estimates the death toll at 113. Textiles contribute more than 10 percent of Bangladesh’s GDP and about 80 percent of the nation’s exports, mainly to the US and the EU, according to the manufacturers’ association. Bangladesh’s High Court on Monday opened a probe into the nation’s worst garment factory fire. After four human rights organizations filed a writ petition, two judges in a ruling asked the government to explain what steps it has taken to implement an earlier High Court directive to ensure the safety of garment workers.

The factory that burned down has produced apparel for Li & Fung, which has said it is in contact with the factory’s owner and that it will conduct its own investigation. Wal-Mart has visited supplier factories to identify those deemed “high risk for fire safety hazards,” it said on its Web site. Last year the company stopped working with 49 factories in Bangladesh due to fire safety issues, it said. Meanwhile, Bangladeshi Interior Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir yesterday said according to a preliminary inquiry, the fire was the result of arson. He promised to bring the culprits to justice. “We have come to the conclusion that it was an act of sabotage. We are finding out as of now who exactly the saboteurs are and all culprits will be brought to book,” Alamgir said.

More than 1,000 workers, some carrying black flags, demonstrated in the Ashulia industrial belt on the outskirts of the capital where the factory is located. They blocked traffic moving on a highway and vowed to avenge the deaths of their colleagues, witnesses said. Hundreds of protesters, mostly from labor and rights groups, also gathered in the capital demanding to know the cause of the fire and calling for punishment of those responsible. All of Bangladesh’s garment factories were closed yesterday as the nation observed a day of mourning.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2012/11/28/2003548832

 

[waltky]

Disney, Sears, Sean Combs too...

Wal-Mart, Disney clothes found in Bangladesh fire
Nov 28,`12 -- A hooded Mickey Mouse sweatshirt from Disney. Piles of children's shorts with Wal-Mart's Faded Glory label. Clothes with hip-hop star Sean Combs' ENYCE tag.

The garment factory in Bangladesh where 112 people were killed in a fire over the weekend was used by a host of major U.S. and European retailers, an Associated Press reporter discovered Wednesday from clothes and account books left behind amid the blackened tables and melted sewing machines at Tazreen Fashions Ltd. Wal-Mart had been aware of safety problems at the factory and said it had decided well before the blaze to stop doing business with it. But it said a supplier had continued to use Tazreen without authorization. Sears, likewise, said its merchandise was being produced there without its approval through a vendor, which has since been fired. The Walt Disney Co. said its records indicate that none of its licensees have been permitted to make Disney-brand products at the factory for at least a year.

Labor activists have long contended that retailers in the West bear a responsibility to make sure the overseas factories that manufacture their products are safe. They seized on the blaze - the deadliest in Bangladesh's nearly 35-year history of exporting clothing - to argue that retailers must insist on more stringent fire standards. Charles Kernaghan, director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, said nothing will change unless clothing companies protect workers as vigorously as they protect their brands. "The labels are legally protected," he said. "But there are no similar laws to protect rights of the worker."

Bangladesh's fast-growing garment industry - second only to China's in exports - has long provided jobs and revenue for the desperately poor country, while turning out the low-priced products shoppers in the U.S. and other countries have come to enjoy. But the industry has a ghastly safety record; more than 300 workers have died in garment factory fires in Bangladesh since 2006. On Wednesday, police arrested three factory officials suspected of locking in the workers who died in Saturday's blaze on the outskirts of Dhaka. Police Chief Habibur Rahman said the three will be questioned. He said the factory owner was not among those arrested. About 1,400 people worked at the factory, about 70 percent of them women. Survivors said exit doors were locked, and a fire official said the death toll would have been much lower if the eight-story building had had an emergency exit.

The fire broke out on the ground floor, where a factory worker named Nasima said stacks of yarn and clothes blocked part of the stairway. Nasima, who uses only one name, and other workers said that when they tried to flee, managers told them to go back to their work stations. Thick smoke filled the stairway, and when the lights went out the workers were left in total darkness. Another worker, Mohammad Rajib, said some people used their cellphones to light their way. "Everyone was screaming for help," Nasima said. "Total chaos, panic and screaming. Everyone was trying to escape and come out. I was pulling the shirt of a man. I fainted and when I woke up I found myself lying on the road outside the factory. I don't know how I survived."

MORE

See also:

Three arrested over Bangladesh factory fire as protests rage
Thu, Nov 29, 2012 - Bangladeshi police fired rubber bullets to disperse thousands of workers who protested for a third day yesterday over the nation’s worst-ever factory blaze, which prompted the arrest of three plant managers.

At least 5,000 workers left their factories and joined the protests, throwing stones and streaming through the main streets of the Ashulia industrial area, just outside of Dhaka and home to 500 manufacturing outlets, police said. “They were demanding justice for the fire victims and arrest of the [plant] owner,” police official Faruq Ahmed told reporters, referring to a weekend blaze at the Tazreen garment factory that left 110 people dead and more than 100 injured. Industrial Police deputy director Moktar Hossain said police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and jets of hot water from a water cannon to break up the crowd. The online edition of the mass-circulated Daily Star said workers also vandalized factories and torched motorcycles, injuring at least 20 people.

More than 100 factories at Ashulia, where the Tazreen plant is located, declared an impromptu holiday for the day, fearing the protests could grow into large-scale industrial unrest. Police arrested an administrative officer, the store in-charge and a security supervisor of the factory, following charges that they told panicked workers they had nothing to worry about when the fire started. “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,” Dhaka police chief Habibur Rahman told reporters. “There are also allegations that they even padlocked doors,” he added.

Two government inquiries have already been set up to establish the cause of the worst factory fire to hit Bangladesh’s garment industry, which employs 3 million and is the mainstay of the economy. Rahman said police also questioned Tazreen’s owner, Delwar Hossain, about alleged building rules violations after inspectors found the nine-story factory only had permission for three floors. The burning factory supplied clothes to a variety of international brands, including US retail giant Wal-Mart.

A reporter searching the factory yesterday found clothing from hip-hop star Sean Combs’ ENYCE label, French company Teddy Smith and entries in account books indicating that the factory took orders to produce clothes for Disney and Sears. Garments and documents left behind in the factory show it was used by a host of major US 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. Wal-Mart said it received an audit deeming the factory “high risk” last year and had decided to stop doing business with Tazreen, but that a supplier subcontracted work to the factory anyway. Wal-Mart said it stopped working with that supplier on Monday. Calls made to The Walt Disney Co and to Sears Holdings were not immediately returned.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2012/11/29/2003548911

 

[ScienceRocks]

Why don't these nations put in safety standards?

 

[Katzndogz]

Why don't these nations put in safety standards?

According to the article, there were safety standards that were ignored. In a corrupt government its easy to bribe someone for a stamp of approval, or just build what you want and worry about violations later.

Not long ago, California decided to retrofit all the freeway overpasses. The state appointed inspectors to examine the overpasses to determine which ones were most at risk. One inspector traded favorable inspections for marijuana. It wasn't discovered for a few years, during which time the retrofit on these overpasses was delayed or sometimes eliminated. Now, all of the inspections done by this corrupt inspector has to be redone and the retrofit scheduled. Fortunately we didn't have a major earthquake. Unfortunately for Bangladesh they did have a fire.

We have scads of safety standards that are just ignored with an appropriate bribe.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dem poor lil' Bangladeshi's - dey's not just poor but now dey also out of work...

Bangladesh fire victims want old jobs back
Tue, Dec 04, 2012 - EARNING A LIVING: Garment work can provide a stable income for young, uneducated rural women in a country where almost one-third of people live in extreme poverty

Major retailers have disavowed the Bangladesh garment factory where 112 workers died in a fire last month, but the survivors of the fire have not. They cannot afford to. Factories like the one gutted on Nov. 24 are a rare lifeline in a desperately poor country, and now many of the more than 1,200 surviving employees have no work and few prospects. Even Dipa Akter, who was injured jumping from a third-story window through a hole made by breaking apart an exhaust fan, wants to go back to the Tazreen Fashions Ltd factory. “If the factory owner reopens the factory sometime soon, we will work again here,” the 19-year-old said. “If it’s closed for long, we have to think of alternatives.” Akter spent 25 minutes trying to get down the smoke-filled stairs before jumping, which she said was “the only option other than being burned.” Now bandages cover her left leg and she can’t walk properly. However, without this job she would either be a housemaid or jobless in her home village, she said.

Almost one-third of Bangladesh’s 150 million people live in extreme poverty. Garment work is one of the few paths to secure a stable income, collect some savings and send money to family — especially for young, uneducated rural women, who are already trained to make clothes at home. The industry has given women in the conservative nation an accepted opportunity to leave their homes and join the main workforce. “I have a life here,” Akter said. “I have a timetable to wake up in the morning and I know when I should go to bed.” Akter made about 4,550 takas (US$57) a month sewing pants, shirts and nightgowns. Her husband makes about the same at another factory, but she said it is impossible for them to survive on just his salary. The landlord is demanding rent and she has bills at a grocery shop. “I am in big trouble because I don’t have any savings,” Akter said.

The government announced on Saturday that it would give 200,000 takas to the families of those who died in the fire and 50,000 takas to the injured. It also said uninjured workers would get their wages for last month, but many employees are demanding four months’ salary as compensation. It is not yet clear when, or even if, Tazreen will rebuild the factory. “If I am not compensated, I have to start begging. I have to move to the street,” said Ferdousy, a worker who uses only one name. With overtime, the 20-year-old earned up to 7,000 takas a month from Tazreen as a sewing machine operator. She fled the factory unharmed by bolting out as soon as the fire alarm went off, ignoring her supervisors’ insistence that she stay at her station. However, now she needs to work again, or to be compensated while the company rebuilds. Her husband needs treatment for asthma and is too sick to work. Her two children need food. The rent needs to be paid. “I worked hard to support my family. I always tried to cross my production targets so I could earn extra money to support my family, but now I have no place to go,” she said.

More Bangladesh fire victims want old jobs back - Taipei Times

 

[waltky]

Owner found negligent in Bangladesh garment factory fire...

Bangladesh probe: Fire sabotage, owner negligent
Dec 17,`12 -- A Bangladesh government committee investigating the garment factory fire that killed 112 people last month said in its findings Monday that the blaze was sabotage, probably by someone who worked there.

But the panel said that no matter who set the fire, the owner of the factory also should be punished for the deaths because he neglected worker safety. "If someone is responsible for such a huge number of deaths, that's him. He has failed to ensure safety," committee head Mainuddin Khandaker said of factory owner Delwar Hossain. Some government and garment industry officials had alleged soon after the Nov. 24 fire that it was an act of sabotage, though a fire official said casualties would have been greatly reduced if the factory had followed safety rules.

The factory lacked emergency exits and Hossain has said only three floors of the eight-story building were legally built. Surviving employees said gates had been locked and managers had told them to go back to work after the fire alarm went off. The four-member committee submitted its report to the government Monday. At least two other investigations are continuing.

Khandaker, an official with the Ministry of Home Affairs, told The Associated Press that committee members believe some people who worked at the factory were involved in the sabotage. "Otherwise, how come they locked the gates? How come they asked the workers to go back to work even after the fire alarm?" he said. Three factory officials suspected of locking workers inside the building were arrested days after the fire and remain in custody.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Now dey sayin' it was saboteurs responsible for Bangladesh clothing factory fire...

Bangladesh plant fire was sabotage: government panel
Wed, Dec 19, 2012 - The fire that killed more than 100 people at a Bangladeshi factory that made clothes for retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc was an act of sabotage, according to the government panel investigating the blaze.

There was no possibility last month’s fire at Tazreen Fashion Ltd’s factory was caused by an electrical short-circuit and witness statements suggest sabotage, panel chief Mainuddin Khandaker said by telephone on Monday, without saying who could have been responsible. He blamed the factory owner for “gross negligence” as poor safety standards made it harder for workers to escape. The Nov. 24 fire, the country’s deadliest at a garment plant, renewed pressure on local companies and international retailers sourcing cheap clothes from Bangladesh to improve labor conditions. More than 700 garment workers have died since 2005 in Bangladesh, according to the International Labor Rights Forum, a Washington-based advocacy group.

The government panel’s investigation believes the incident was the result of sabotage because it did not find any electricity connection or appliance in the area where the fire originated, Khandaker said. “The fire originated from the warehouse on the ground floor,” he said. The findings of the report are “conflicting,” Garment Workers Unity Forum union president Mushrefa Mishu said in a phone interview yesterday. “I don’t think it was sabotage,” Mishu said. “Calling it an act of sabotage, the government is indicating some workers are responsible for the fire, so that they can be harassed.” The factory had no emergency exits, and many workers were burned alive, as they got trapped in heavy smoke, Muhammad Mahboob, a director at the Fire Service and Civil Defense said after the fire.

Delowar Hossain, managing director of Tazreen Fashion owner Tuba Group, did not answer two calls to his mobile phone yesterday. Fifty percent of Bangladesh’s garment factories don’t meet required work safety standards and those that have improved working conditions have done so under pressure from Western apparel makers, Kalpona Akter, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, a non-governmental organization, said in an interview last month. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, has said it fired a supplier that made apparel at the factory without its authorization.

Bangladesh plant fire was sabotage: government panel - Taipei Times

 

[waltky]

The check's in the mail...

Bangladesh fire victims' families wait for money
24 Jan.`13 — When fire ravaged a Bangladeshi garment factory, killing 112 workers, dozens of their families did not even have a body to bury because their loved ones' remains were burned beyond recognition. Two months later, the same families have yet to receive any of the compensation they were promised — not even their relatives' last paychecks.

An official with the country's powerful garment industry said DNA tests must first be conducted to confirm the losses of more than 50 families. He would not say why the families have not even received the wages their relatives had earned before the Nov. 24 blaze. Many of the families desperately need money after losing their primary breadwinners in the fire at the Tazreen factory, which made clothes for Wal-Mart, Disney and other Western brands. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, a foreign supplier and the government promised to give the families of the dead 600,000 takas ($7,500) each, finance the education of the dead workers' children and pay the November salaries of both dead and surviving factory workers. "I have got nothing. Nobody is saying anything," said Ansar, who uses one name and who lost his wife and daughter in the fire.

The 55-year-old is too ill to work himself. His 16-year-old son, who also worked at Tazreen, managed to escape but was traumatized by leaving his mother and sister behind "amid the darkness and ash," Ansar said at his home near the gutted factory. The boy got a job at another factory but was unable to work because of his trauma. "My son cannot sleep," Ansar said, sobbing. "He wakes up at midnight and then cries for a long time. The same thing happens to him every night." Ansar has been unable to pay his rent for two months and fears that if he gets evicted and is forced to return to his home village in the impoverished north, he may never be compensated.

The fire drew international attention to the conditions that garment workers toil under in Bangladesh, where the $20 billion-a-year textile industry is incredibly powerful and politically connected. The factory lacked emergency exits and its owner said only three floors of the eight-story building were legally built. Surviving employees said gates had been locked and managers had told them to go back to work after the fire alarm went off. A government panel concluded that the fire was sabotage. No one has been charged with setting the blaze, though three officials accused of locking in workers have been arrested. Siddiqur Rahman, vice president of the garment association, said checks have been cut for families of the 59 victims whose bodies were identified. In addition, 80 workers injured in the fire received 100,000 takas each.

Bangladesh fire victims' families wait for money - Yahoo! News

 

[Saigon]

Is Bangaldesh in Africa?

 

[waltky]

Another fabric factory fire in Bangladesh...

Report: Investigation Ordered into Latest Bangladesh Factory Fire
January 27, 2013 - An official in Bangladesh says the government has ordered an investigation into allegations that the only emergency exit was locked at a garment factory where a fire on Saturday killed seven female workers.

The Associated Press cites a government official, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, as saying an inquiry has been ordered into the cause of the blaze and the contention about the exit. Dhaka police inspector Shamsul Hoque told the AP Sunday that Altaf Hossain, father of a garment worker killed in the fire, has filed a case against three directors of the factory, accusing them of negligence.

Saturday's fire at the Smart Export Garment Ltd. factory occurred just two months after a blaze killed 112 workers in another factory near the capital, raising questions about safety in Bangladesh’s garment industry, which exports clothes to leading Western retailers. The gates of that factory were locked. Also Sunday, three international labor rights groups called for global clothing retailers to ensure improved safety measures for garment workers in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has about 4,000 garment factories that make clothes for international brands. The country earns about $20 billion annually from overseas clothing sales, roughly 80 percent of its exports. Work conditions in the country's garment factories are notoriously poor. Officials say at least 500 people have died in Bangladeshi garment factory accidents and fires since 2006. Activists say plant owners are rarely prosecuted for poor safety conditions.

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See also:

Bangladesh probing if factory's 1 exit was locked
Jan 27,`13 -- Bangladesh's government is investigating allegations that the sole emergency exit was locked at a garment factory where a fire killed seven women.

The fire Saturday at the Smart Export Garment Ltd. factory occurred just two months after a blaze killed 112 workers in another factory, raising questions about safety in Bangladesh's garment industry, which exports clothes to leading Western retailers. The gates of that factory were locked. Government official Jahangir Kabir Nanak said Sunday an investigation has been ordered into the cause of Saturday's fire and allegations that the emergency exit was locked. Altaf Hossain, father of a garment worker killed in the latest fire, has filed a police case against three directors of the factory, accusing them of negligence involving the fire, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Sub-inspector Shamsul Hoque told The Associated Press. He said police had begun an investigation.

Doctors said most of the victims died from asphyxiation. "When I tried to escape through the emergency exit I found the gate locked," factory worker Raushan Ara was quoted as saying by Dhaka's Prothom Alo newspaper. The newspaper said at least 50 people were injured in a stampede triggered by the fire, and six of them were hospitalized. Some of the injured jumped out of the windows of the two-story factory, survivors said. Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Monzurul Kabir said the bodies of seven women were recovered from the top floor of the factory. He said the factory was making pants and shirts, but could not provide further details.

Fire official Abdul Halim said it took firefighters about two hours to bring the blaze under control. Volunteers joined firefighters in battling the fire as a large crowd gathered outside the factory awaiting word on the fate of relatives. Family members were seen crying near the body of a female worker named Josna, who was 16. About 250 workers were working at the time of the fire, newspapers said. It was not immediately known if the factory produced garments for any international companies. The owner was not available for comment, and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said the factory was not a member so it had no details.

Earlier this month, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. alerted its global suppliers that it will immediately drop them if they subcontract their work to factories that haven't been authorized by the discounter. The stricter contracting rule, along with other changes to its policy, come amid increasing calls for better safety oversight after the deadly fire in late November at a factory owned by Tazreen Fashions Ltd. that supplied clothing to Wal-Mart and other retailers. Wal-Mart has said the factory wasn't authorized to make its clothes. Wal-Mart ranks second behind Swedish fast fashion retailer H&M in the number of clothing orders it places in Bangladesh. Fires have caused more than 600 deaths of garment workers in Bangladesh since 2005, according to research by the advocacy group International Labor Rights Forum.

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Saigon wrote: Is Bangaldesh in Africa?

Nah, just goes to show how geographically illiterate some Americans are...

... it's in Australia.