Bangladeshi police question factory owner after inferno
Bangladeshi police on Tuesday questioned the owner of a factory where 110 people died in a fire after claims that workers were told an alarm was just a routine drill.
Bangladeshi police on Tuesday questioned the owner of a factory where 110 people died in a fire after claims that workers making cheap clothes for Western firms including Walmart were told an alarm was just a routine drill.
About 1,000 workers took part in a second day of demonstrations against dangerous factory conditions as the country held a national day of mourning for the victims of the inferno.
Green and red Bangladeshi flags flew at half mast alongside black flags on top of government offices and the nation’s 4,500 garment factories.
Two inquiries have been set up to establish the cause of the blaze that broke out late on Saturday at the Tazreen factory, where rights activists said trousers were also made for a firm owned by US rap star Sean Combs.
It was the worst ever fire to hit Bangladesh’s garment industry, which employs three million people – mainly women – and is the mainstay of the poverty-stricken country’s economy.
Dhaka police chief Habibur Rahman said officers were interrogating Tazreen’s owner Delwar Hossain about alleged violations of building rules after inspectors found the nine-storey factory only had permission for three floors.
