Bangladesh is holding a day of mourning for more than a hundred people killed in a factory fire over the weekend. It has emerged the factory was making products for western companies, including Wal-Mart. Wal-mart has admitted that a supplier subcontracted work to this factory without authorization and that it has now terminated its relationship with that supplier.
The BBC’s Anbarason Ethirajan travelled to what remains of the Tazreen Fashions factory on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. Witnesses say the Tazreen factory lacked emergency exits and 12 people died when they jumped from windows to escape the blaze.
Today garment factory workers have held a second day of protests, demanding tough punishment for the factory owners and those who tried to stop the workers from escaping.
“The workers are angry. This is one of the worst industrial accidents here in Bangladesh,” says Ethirajan.
Bangladesh is the second biggest exporter of ready made clothes with more than 80 percent of its clothes shipping to Europe and the United States.
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