Riots over factory collapse
Dhaka garment workers torch buildings in anger over deadly accident
DHAKA, BANGLADESH— Thousands of garment workers rampaged Friday through industrial areas in Dhaka, smashing vehicles with bamboo poles and setting at least two factories on fire in violent protests ignited by the deadly building collapse that killed at least 304 workers.
The protests came as rescue teams spent a third day searching for survivors in the rubble of the Rana Plaza, the building, in a suburb of the Bangladeshi capital that collapsed Wednesday morning.
Officials reported 72 people had been pulled out alive, a rare bit of good news in what is already considered the deadliest accident in the history of the garment industry. The death toll is expected to rise.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered the arrests of the owner of Rana Plaza, as well as the owners of four garment factories that were operating on the upper floors of the eight-storey building.
Pressure also mounted on Western clothing brands that rely heavily on Bangladesh to manufacture their products. Labour activists have found labels inside the wreckage for clothes being made for Joe Fresh, J.C. Penney, Cato Fashions, the British retailer Primark and other clothing brands.
A special government committee has been appointed to investigate the accident, and questions are already arising about why more than 3,000 employees were working in the building when it collapsed. Cracks had been discovered in the structure a day earlier, and police officials and industry leaders say they had asked the factory bosses to stop work until the building had been inspected. “I wouldn’t call it an accident,” Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu told Bangladeshi journalists. “I would say it’s a murder.” Friday’s violent protests ricocheted between different industrial sections of Dhaka as garment workers took to the streets to vent their fury. Many of the protesters demanded the death penalty for Sohel Rana, owner of the building, as well as the owners of the garment factories on the upper floors. More than 150 vehicles were reported damaged, and some protesters burned two factories. In Narayanganj, an industrial district near the capital, protesters vandalized at least five garment fac- tories and clashed with the police. Ten people were injured and nearly two dozen workers were arrested on vandalism charges. Leaders of Bangladesh’s two most powerful garment trade groups announced Friday that factories in their association would close for the weekend so workers could assist with Rana Plaza rescue efforts. The Bangladeshi military established a command centre near Rana Plaza to co-ordinate rescue efforts. Teams of soldiers, paramilitary police and ordinary citizens were carefully digging through the rubble, sometimes with their bare hands. Atiqul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the trade group would hire engineers in coming months to examine the structural stability of all the country’s garment factories.