Bangladesh factory fire kills 20
Press TV – December 14, 2010
A fire has ripped through a garment factory in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, killing at least 20 workers and wounding over 100 others.
Around 5,000 people were at the factory when the fire broke out on the ninth floor.
About 50 people have been taken to hospital with severe burns. Many more are stranded on the roof of the 10-story building.
Police sources say others were injured in a stampede of hundreds of workers trying to escape to safety.
“It is a big fire and many workers are trapped on the roof of the building. We are mobilizing all our teams from around the city,” AFP quoted fire department Chief Abu Nayeem as saying.
Fire teams have been mobilized from across the capital to control the blaze.
Fires are common in Bangladesh clothes factories. Scores of workers are killed each year due to fires sparked by substandard electrical wiring in these factories.
This comes as thousands of garment workers in Bangladesh have launched a strike over low wages and poor working conditions over the past months.
At least four workers died on December 12 after Bangladeshi police opened fire with live ammunition on protestors, who had demanded the implementation of a hike in the minimum wage, approved by the government and industry in July.
The violence in the Asian nation erupted after the government refused to increase the minimum wage from $27 to $73 a month.
Union officials have argued that the pay rise is not sufficient to ensure a minimum standard of living for workers in the face of surging prices.
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