Bangladesh Clothing Factory Fire Has Killed 25 People And Injured More Than 100.

Death toll may rise

The clothing factory is located 25 kilometres north of Dhaka.

Local television showed pictures of smoke coming from the building and firefighters and first-aid personnel fighting at the scene.

Agence France-Presse reported that soldiers stationed in a military area near the garment factory joined the rescue team.

Some witnesses said the government dispatched an air force helicopter to rescue some trapped people from the building.

Local media reporter Rafik Islam told The Associated Press that he saw an ambulance pporting at least 25 dead bodies at the scene.

A local radio station reported that at least 20 people were killed in the fire and more than 100 were injured.

Mostafa Chaudhry, a police officer, said that some people had been trampled to injury during their escape, and some had inhaled too much smoke.

Police and fire officials predict that the death toll may rise further as many people are critically ill.

Mustafa said that the garment factory is H A-M EEM G roup, a clothing giant in Bangladesh, and mainly supplies to overseas businesses.

According to The Associated Press statistics, there are about 4000 garment factories in Bangladesh, and the garments exported to US $10 billion each year are mainly for the US and European markets.

Fire during lunch break

According to LF, there are about 13 thousand workers working in this clothing factory.

When the fire broke out, most of the employees had gone out to dinner.

Munir Hussein, another local media reporter at the scene, said the fire broke out during the lunch break. The initial fire site was the tallest two floors of the building.

According to some staff's statement, many emergency escape doors were closed, causing many people to be trapped.

Hazrat Ali, a clothing factory employee, said he saw some people jumping off the top of the building.

According to him, this building has 11 floors, and the fire originated from 11 layers of canteen, and then spread rapidly.

Witness salute Kareem described that the fire spread rapidly, like an explosion, "the flames were huge and happened too fast.

Everyone ran to the other side of the building, ready to jump off.

People on the lower floors (on the windows) bundle sheets and blankets, trying to catch them.

Hamim Group Executive Sunil Kumar Sarkar said many employees were dining outside the incident, "but we are worried that some employees are still trapped inside."

Sarkar said that the clothing suppliers of the fire factories included the famous clothing brands in the United States, JC and Penney Company.

Hamim group and Bangladesh clothing manufacturers and Exporters Association announced that they will provide 100 thousand Taka (about 1420 dollars) pension for each victim family, while at the same time bear the medical expenses of the injured.

Xinhua News Agency

Cause of accident

Fire is related to the minimum wage requirement.

Bangladesh interior minister Sahala Kadon inspected the fire clothing factory and announced that the Ministry of interior would investigate the cause of the fire to confirm whether it was related to the recent demonstration of the minimum wage system in garment enterprises.

Bangladesh has seen frequent demonstrations of garment workers in recent years.

On the 12 th of this month, garment workers in the export processing area of Chittagong, Southeast China, held demonstrations to require the enterprises to implement the latest minimum wage system.

According to The Associated Press, thousands of workers attacked factories, burned cars and clashed with police.

Tear gas was used to disperse the crowd and fire the demonstrators, killing 3 people and injuring about 100 people.

In addition to the Chittagong export processing zone, small demonstrations have taken place in the vicinity of Dhaka.

Police announced that 12 days in Dhaka, garment workers demonstrated, the crowd blocked a busy street and lit two cars.

The Bangladesh government announced in July this year that the minimum wage for workers has been raised to 3000 Taka ($43) from 1662 Taka (24 US dollars) per month from November, but some workers say that many factories have not yet implemented the new regulation.