Explosion at Bangladesh textile factory: 13 dead

The Bangladeshi textile factory explosion has increased to at least 13 deaths and injured many people, the latest disaster to hit Bangladesh’s $ 30 billion textile industry.

Several dozen workers were present Monday evening in this six-storey factory located in an industrial area on the outskirts of Dacca when a boiler exploded. The deflagration caused a part of the building to collapse.

The authorities stopped the search for survivors, which lasted nearly 22 hours after the rescuers discovered two bodies in the toilet near the room where the destroyed boiler was located. This discovery brings to 13 the balance of the dead.
“Our five firefighters have completed the search for the entire area where the debris is located,” local official Mahmud Hasan told AFP.

The explosion occurred during boiler maintenance work at a time when the majority of the plant’s 5,000 employees were on leave because of Eid al-Fitr celebrations.
“If it had happened today, there would probably have been more deaths,” Mesba Faruqui, factory operations director told AFP.

One of the injured employees in a neighborhood hospital reported “negligence” to the plant’s managers who did not replace the boiler, but said that it was “constantly emitting warning signals” warning ‘a danger.

The cause of the disaster was not clear. The government has announced the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the explosion.
The factory located in the industrial district of Gazipur is owned by Multifabs, which manufactures clothing for brands like Littlewoods and Aldi, according to its website.

In April 2013, the collapse of the Rana Plaza had caused more than 1,100 deaths and highlighted the dark side of subcontracting. The major textile brands have since committed themselves to enhancing safety in this industry.

AFP
07/04/2017