Three arrested over textile factory blaze

Three supervisors of a Bangladeshi garments factory were arrested yesterday as protests over a fire that killed more than 100 people raged on into a third day, with textile workers and police clashing in a Dhaka suburb.

Police said they had arrested two people who were seen on CCTV footage trying to set fire to stockpiles of cotton in another factory.

The fire at Tazreen Fashions has put a spotlight on global retailers that source clothes from Bangladesh, where wage costs are low – the equivalent of as little as £23 a month for some.

Witnesses said that at least 
20 people were hurt yesterday 
in the industrial suburb of Ashulia as police pushed back protesters demanding safer factories and punishment for those responsible for the fire, which killed 111 workers and injured more than 150.

Three Tazreen Fashions employees – an administrative officer, a stores manager and a security supervisor – were arrested.

Police are investigating complaints from some survivors that factory managers stopped workers leaving the building when a fire alarm went off.