Bangladesh: Workers Shut Bosses’ Death Traps
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DHAKA, BANGLADESH, November 27 — Thousands of garment workers poured into the streets of Ashulia, the industrial belt north of here, protesting the deaths of at least 112 mostly women workers, burnt alive in the Tarzeen Factory, trapped by poor escape routes.
The protesting workers paralyzed much of Ashulia, blocked roads and forced the closing of many of the country’s 4,500 garment factories. They produce $18 billion in profits per year, second in textile exports only to China.
The workers were burned beyond recognition because the capitalists who run these factories won’t spend money on fire escapes or follow safety rules. Most of the workers who died were on the first and second floors and were killed, fire officials said, because there were not enough exits for them to get out.
“The factory had three staircases, and all of them were down through the ground floor,” said Maj. Mohammad Mahbub, the operations director for the fire department, according to The Associated Press. “So the workers could not come out when the fire engulfed the building.”
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