|
At least 51 dead in Bangladesh factory fire
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-02-24 11:54
At least 51 people have been killed and more than 100 injured when a fire
swept through a textile factory in the Bangladeshi city of Chittagong.
Flames of fire. At
least 51 people were killed and more than 100 injured when a fire swept
through a textile factory in the Bangladeshi city of Chittagong, officials
said. [AFP] | Up to 500 people were believed to be
working in the factory when the fire broke out Thursday, and local fire chief
Rashedul Islam said there were more bodies inside that had not yet been pulled
out.
"We just managed to put out the fire after more than 10 hours," he told AFP
early Friday morning. The building was still smouldering and army troops were on
the scene to assist, he said.
So far, 25 bodies had been pulled out of the gutted KTS Composite Textile
factory, bringing the death toll to 35, deputy commissioner of Chittagong police
Ruhul Amin told AFP.
Witnesses said the fire broke out after a loud noise on Thursday evening.
They said the main gate of the factory was locked by the factory's caretaker,
trapping many workers, most of them women, inside.
"The main gate was locked when we heard a loud noise followed by fire and an
electricity cut," a worker from the factory told ATN Bangla television.
"Some neighbours cut open the window grilles to help us out of the factory,"
he said.
Salauddin Ahmed, a doctor at the emergency ward of Chittagong Medical College
Hospital, said around 60 people were hospitalised, "mostly with burn injuries
and some with broken ribs after they jumped from the upper floors."
He said at least 25 people were in critical condition. Some 40 people had
been treated on the scene earlier.
Emergency crews reportedly managed to evacuate the ground floor but many
people were believed to have been trapped in the upper levels of the four-storey
building.
One witness said he saw people jumping from the third floor to escape the
blaze, believed to have been started by a short circuit.
Bangladesh is home to some 4,000 textile factories which have been plagued by
accidents due to poor safety standards.
Textiles are Bangladesh's biggest export, bringing in nearly 80 percent of
its total foreign exchange earnings.
Six people were killed earlier this month at a textile factory fire near
Dhaka. Last April, more than 70 people died when an illegally-constructed
garment factory collapsed.
A government investigation found it had been built on marshland without
planning permission.
In November 2000, at least 48 workers died and more than 150 were injured
when they were trapped in a burning factory near Dhaka due to a locked fire
exit.
Email Story IM Story Discuss Printable View RECOMMEND THIS
STORY
Recommend It:
Average (1 vote)
? Recommended Stories
|
