28 Nov 2000, 45 dead in Bangladesh garment factory

Dear Friends, Please find below reports on the Nov. 25th fire which resulted in the death of 45 people at a Bangladesh garment factory. We are trying to get more details on what happened, and which companies this factory was producing for. We will keep you informed of any new information.

from the National Garment Workers Federation:

Yesterday 25th November 45 garments workers killed in a garment factory fire. I am sending the news from our English Daily Newspaper " THE BANGLADESH OBSERVER"

45 killed In Narsingdi Garment Factory Fire

Narsingdi, Nov 25: Atleast 45 workers including 10 children were burnt to death in a devastating fire at Sagar Chowdury Garment Factory in the Kamanchar BSCIC Industrial Area on Dhaka-Sylhet highway today at 7.45 p.m. The fire sparked from electrical short circuit. UNB ( United News Agency of Bangladesh ) adds: The fire soon engulfed the entire building where over 900 workers were on duty. " As all the collapsible gates of the building were locked. No one could come out immediately." says a spot report,adding that the death figure may increase alarmingly. Local people along with the firefighters of narsingdi broke open the gates of the building and rescued the rest of the workers and 40 dead bodies. Of the dead,29 bodies were brought to narsingdi sadar hospital. the raging fire, however, came under control at about 9.30 p.m. The rescue operation was controling when the report came at 10.10 p.m.
THE BANGLADESH OBSERVER Dhaka Sunday November 26,2000 ( 1st page )

P.s.
1. National Garments Workers Federation with 9 other garments workers organisations named in the Banner of "Bangladesh Garments Workers Unity Council" have already protested the killing.
2.National Garments Workers Federation will organise CONDOLENCE AND PROTEST DEMONSTRATION tomorrow 27 th November at 5 p.m.

*** Pls send your condolence message to the victimised families, co workers and NGWF.

In solidarity

Amirul Haque Amin 26th November,2000 National Garments Workers Federation e-mail: unity@bdmail.net

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[The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition] November 27, 2000

World-Wide

Fire in Bangladesh Garment Plant Kills at Least 45, Injures Over 100

Associated Press

DHAKA, Bangladesh -- A fire in a garment factory in Bangladesh left at least 45 people dead, most of them killed in the crush as panicked workers tried to flee the four-story building in an industrial town near the capital, police and doctors said Sunday. Most of the dead were women and children.

More than 100 others were hospitalized with injuries after the fire and stampede Saturday night at Chowdhury Knitwear Garments factory in Shibpur, 40 kilometers east of Dhaka. Some of the injured were in critical condition, and the death toll could rise, a police official supervising the rescue work said.

At least 900 workers, many of them women, were at the factory when a fire broke out on the its fourth floor, where towels and knitwear are ironed. Workers scrambled to flee the factory along narrow stairwells and many of them fell on each other, officials said.

Nearly all the victims died in the stampede, and many of the injured had jumped out windows trying to escape, Sitish Ranjan, the area's chief government administrator, said in a telephone interview. He said a probe had been ordered.

Witnesses told newspapers workers were trapped because the only exit door on the ground floor was locked for security reasons and had to be broken open by firefighters. The factory owner, Sagar Chowdhury, disputed those accounts.

He said the fire was caused by a short circuit on the fourth floor.

Bangladesh has nearly 2,000 garment factories that employ at least 1.5 million workers, most of them young women. Children also work in the factories.

Garment exports, mainly to the U.S. and Europe, account for nearly 70% of Bangladesh's total annual export revenue of $5 billion.