Bangladesh's worst-ever factory blaze kills over 100

[SLM]

Bangladesh's worst-ever factory blaze kills over 100

By Anis Ahmed and Ruma Paul | Reuters – 2 hours 43 minutes ago




DHAKA (Reuters) - Fire swept through a garment factory on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital killing more than 100 people, the fire brigade said on Sunday, in the country's worst-ever factory blaze.
Working conditions at Bangladeshi factories are notoriously poor, with little enforcement of safety laws, and overcrowding and locked fire doors are common. The cause of this fire was not immediately known.
The blaze at the nine-storey Tazreen Fashion factory in the Ashulia industrial belt of Dhaka started on the ground floor late on Saturday and spread, trapping hundreds of workers.
"So far, the confirmed death toll is 109, including nine who died by jumping from the building," Mizanur Rahman, deputy director of the fire brigade, told Reuters.
Witnesses said the workers, mostly women, ran for safety as the fire engulfed the plant but were unable to get through narrow exits.
"Many jumped out from the windows and were injured, or died on the spot," Milon, a resident, said.
Most of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition and authorities had started burials while mourning relatives scrambled to find their loved ones, officials and witnesses said.
Unofficial sources put the number of dead at more than 120. Most of the bodies were found on the second floor, Rahman said.
Bangladesh has around 4,500 garment factories and is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China, with garments making up 80 percent of its $24 billion annual exports.
This was the highest ever death toll in a Bangladeshi factory fire. In 2006, 84 people were killed in a blaze in the southern port of Chittagong where fire exits had been blocked.
More than 300 factories near the capital shut for almost a week earlier this year as workers demanded higher wages and better working conditions.


Bangladesh's worst-ever factory blaze kills over 100 - Yahoo! News Canada


I would really like to know what companies outsource their work to this factory, specifically what brands and labels.

 

[earth_as_one]

This is the factory that burnt down. But it isn't that different than every other textile factory in Bangladesh. Basically every name brand contracts out sweat shops. Perhaps people here can post Brand Name exceptions. I am not aware of any major brand that doesn't profit from abysmal working conditions in poor countries.

Check the label. I always try to buy Canadian.

Support 'Made in Canada' clothes: manufacturers - Montreal - CBC News

 

[Liberalman]

Another sweatshop burns the tragedy is that 100 people had to die because the owners did not care

 

[eh1eh]

Wow. That's going to drive up the t-shirt prices at Old Navy and The Gap.

 

[L Gilbert]

Bangladesh's worst-ever factory blaze kills over 100



Bangladesh's worst-ever factory blaze kills over 100 - Yahoo! News Canada


I would really like to know what companies outsource their work to this factory, specifically what brands and labels.

Jeezez, good question.

Wonder whatever happened to the idea of praying to Agni.

After a little more research, I found "Tazreen Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of the Tuba Group, which supplies Walmart and other major retailers in the U.S. and Europe." - Bangladesh factory fire kills 112 - World - CBC News
Nice!

 

[damngrumpy]

It is funny how we all separate ourselves from the plight of those who make our clothing.
For example we flock to places like Warlmart and others for those ten dollar or less deals
ignoring the fact that others live in danger and misery so we can save five bucks on shirt.
We ignore the fact that companies and governments conspired to move entire factories
over seas for cheap labour, bot not cheap labour alone.
These companies are telling us how green they are and how they care for all in a better
world, raising the standard of living for those in the third world. It goes on being believed
until an act like this exposes the monsters some of these corporate entities really are.
The exported the jobs to avoid the inspection of labour and environmental practices.
they were complicit with governments because our governments organize trade missions
to promote trade with countries that clearly do not care about their citizen. Nor do they
care about you and I as they make products with band substances and fillers in food that
clearly fly in the face of international laws and moral.
It is time we expected more from these companies not because they are Canadian, American
or some other nations corporate entity. No because we have our retirement funds invested in
some of the sleaze bags and we should have enough personal integrity to demand they
behave in a manner that reflects our personal and business sence of values. or is the market
price blinding us from the plight of others and our own values.

 

[tay]

Ah yes those pesky regulations the Corporates have to deal in 1st world countries cause them to move jobs offshore.............



Other brands implicated in large, deadly factory fires in 2010 – including H&M, Gap, JCPenney, Target, Abercrombie, Kohl’s and Carter’s – have also been invited to join the agreement.

“Unfortunately, Gap Inc. withdrew last month from fire safety discussions and instead announced their own non-binding program, which lacks central elements of the fire safety program signed by PVH and Tchibo,” said Judy Gearhart, executive director of International Labor Rights Forum.

Gearhart added: “We hope the tragic fire at Tazreen will serve as an urgent call to action for all major brands that rely on Bangladesh’s low wages to make a profit.

Their voluntary and confidential monitoring programs have failed; now it is time to come together and make a contractual commitment to workers and to involve workers and their organizations in the solution.”



Labor Rights Group Calls on Brands to Join Fire Safety Program Following Deadly Fire at Factory Supplying US and European Brands | International Labor Rights Forum