Bangladesh: Disaster averted at garment factory

Industry news

Bangladesh: Disaster averted at garment factory

A fire broke out in a garment factory in Dhaka last Sunday, but the blaze was extinguished before it could spread and there were no casualties, officials said.

Fire official Sheikh Mizanur Rahman says the fire broke out Sunday on the top floor of a six—story building in Dhaka where bundles of clothes were kept. He says the fire was contained and put out before it could spread and that all 3,000 workers in the building were either evacuated or left when the fire alarm rang.

The lax safety standards of Bangladesh’s US$ 20 billion-a-year garment export industry have been at the heart of heated debate after a factory collapse in April and a fire at a factory building in November left more than 1,200 people dead.