Factory fire kills seven workers
Sunday 27 January 2013
Printable
EmailA fire swept through a clothes factory in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka on Saturday, killing at least seven women workers and injuring five others.
The fire at the Smart factory occurred just two months after a blaze killed 112 workers in another factory near the capital, raising questions about safety standards and treatment of workers in Bangladesh's £13bn garment industry that exports clothes to leading Western retailers.
The country has more than 4,000 garment factories.
A fire official said the fire's cause was not clear but the government has begun an investigation into the blaze amid claims that the two-storey building's only emergency exit had been locked.
Doctors said most of the victims suffocated.
Dhaka deputy police commissioner Monzurul Kabir said the bodies of seven women were recovered from the top floor of the factory in the city's Mohammadpur area.
It took about two hours for firefighters to bring the blaze under control, with volunteers pitching in as a large crowd gathered outside.
More than 600 garment workers have been killed in factory fires in Bangladesh since 2005.
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