112 die as fire sweeps through Dhaka clothes factory

At least 112 people were killed in a fire that raced through a multi-storey garment factory just outside of Bangladesh’s capital, authorities said yesterday.

The blaze broke out at the seven-storey factory operated by Tazreen Fashions late on Saturday night and by yesterday morning, firefighters had recovered 100 bodies, a fire department spokesman said.

Another 12 people who had suffered injuries after jumping from the building to escape the fire later died in hospital and the death toll could rise further as the search for victims was continuing, he said.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear, and authorities have ordered an investigation.

Bangladesh has some 4,000 garment factories, many without proper safety measures. The country annually earns about £12.5 billion from exports of garment products, mainly to Europe and the United States.

Relatives of the factory workers were frantically looking for their loved ones. Sabina Yasmine said she saw the body of her daughter-in-law, who died in the fire, but did not know the fate of her son, who also worked at the factory.

“Oh, Allah, where’s my soul? Where’s my son?” wailed Yasmine, who works at another factory in the area. “I want the factory owner to be hanged. For him, many have died, many have gone.”

Fire department chief Major Mohammad Mahbub said firefighters recovered 69 bodies from the second floor of the factory alone.

He said most of the victims had been trapped inside the factory, located just outside of Dhaka, with no emergency exits leading outside the building. Many workers who had taken shelter on the roof of the factory were rescued, but firefighters were unable to save those who were trapped inside, said.

He said the fire broke out on the ground floor, which was used as a warehouse, and spread quickly to the upper floors.

“The factory had three staircases, and all of them were down through the ground floor,” Major Mahbub said. “So the workers could not come out when the fire engulfed the building.”

“Had there been at least one emergency exit through outside the factory, the casualties would have been much lower,” he said.

Many of the victims were burned beyond recognition. The recovered bodies were kept in rows on the premise of a nearby school.

Army soldiers and paramilitary border guards were deployed to help police keep the situation under control as thousands of onlookers and anxious relatives of the factory workers gathered at the scene.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina expressed shock at the loss of so many lives in the blaze and asked authorities to conduct thorough search-and-rescue operations.

Bangladesh’s garment factories make clothes for brands including H&M, Marks & Spencer, and Tesco.

Separately, a flyover under construction fell onto a busy market, leaving at least 14 people dead including three construction workers in southeastern city of Chittagong, an official said yesterday.

Local fire official Abdul Mannan said the concrete structure collapsed on Saturday night.