Zee Media Bureau
Dhaka: Adding to the list of factory accidents in Bangladesh, a garment factory near Dhaka was engulfed in fire on Tuesday night killing ten people, officials said.
The fire broke out late night in Aswad garment factory in Gazipur outside Dhaka, when the factory had been closed for the day but some employees were working overtime.
The fire also spread to two nearby buildings that also housed garment factories belonging to the Palmal Group of Industries, reports said.
According to a BBC report, over 50 people were injured,
Bangladesh is notorious for poor safety standards in its garment factories.
Earlie over 1,100 people died in the Ashulia district’s factory collapse in April and over 112 workers were killed in another facto fire last November.
Bangladesh earns $20 billion a year from garment exports, mainly to the United States and Europe. The sector employs about 4 million workers, mostly women.
Authorities in Bangladesh and global clothing companies have pledged to improve safety standards.
Bangladeshi textile workers are among the worst paid in the sector worldwide, and they often work for 80 hours a week in factories, which are vulnerable to fires and other accidents.
