Death toll in Bangladesh garment factory fire rises
Bangladeshis identify the bodies of relatives who died in a fire at a garment factory, in the Savar neighborhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. At least 112 people were killed in a late Saturday night fire that raced through the multi-story garment factory just outside of Bangladesh's capital, an official Sunday. / AP Photo/Polash Khan
Updated 11:09 p.m. ET
DHAKA, Bangladesh At least 112 people were killed in a fire that raced through a multi-story garment factory just outside of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, an official said Sunday.
The blaze broke out late Saturday at the eight-story factory operated by Tazreen Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of the Tuba Group, which supplies Walmart and other major retailers in the U.S. and Europe.
By Sunday morning, firefighters had recovered 100 bodies, fire department Operations Director Maj. Mohammad Mahbub told The Associated Press. He said another 12 people who had suffered injuries after jumping from the building to escape the fire later died at hospitals. The death toll could rise as the search for victims was continuing, he said.
Firefighters battle a blaze at a garment factory in the Savar neighborhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh, late Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012.
/ AP Photo/Polash KhanLocal media reported that up to 124 people were killed in the fire. The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear, and authorities have ordered an investigation.
Army soldiers and paramilitary border guards were deployed to help police keep the situation under control as thousands of onlookers and anxious relatives of the factory workers gathered at the scene, Mahbub said. He would not say how many people were still missing.
Tazreen was given a "high risk" safety rating after May 16, 2011, audit conducted by an ethical sourcing assessor for Wal-Mart, according to a document posted on the Tuba Group's website. It did not specify the conditions or violations that led to the rating.
A spokesman for Wal-Mart said online documents indicating that the factory received an orange or "high risk" assessment after the May 2011 inspection and a yellow or "medium risk" report after an inspection in August 2011 appeared to pertain to the factory where the fire occurred.
The August 2011 letter said Wal-Mart would conduct another inspection within one year. Spokesman Kevin Gardner said it was not clear if that inspection had been conducted, or if the factory was still making products for Wal-Mart.
If a factory is rated "orange" three times in a two-year period, Wal-Mart won't place any orders for one year. The May 2011 report was the first orange rating for the factory.
There was no indication whether the violations had been fixed since the May inspection. Neither Tazreen's owner nor Tuba Group officials could be reached for comment.
The Tuba Group is a major Bangladeshi garment exporter whose clients include Walmart, Carrefour and IKEA, according to its website. Its factories export garments to the U.S., Germany, France, Italy and The Netherlands, among other countries. The Tazreen factory, opened in 2009 and employing about 1,700 people, makes polo shirts, fleece jackets and T-shirts.
People try to console a woman whose relative was killed in a fire at a garment factory outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. At least 112 people were killed.
/ AP Photo/Hasan RazaBangladesh has some 4,000 garment factories, many without proper safety measures. The country annually earns about $20 billion from exports of garment products, mainly to the United States and Europe.
In its 2012 Global Responsibility report, Walmart said that "fire safety continues to be a key focus for brands and retailers sourcing from Bangladesh." Walmart said it ceased working with 49 factories in Bangladesh in 2011 due to fire safety issues, and was working with its supplier factories to phase out production from buildings deemed high risk.
At the factory scene, relatives of the workers were frantically looking for their loved ones. Sabina Yasmine said she saw the body of her daughter-in-law, who died in the fire, but had no trace of her son, who also worked at the factory.
"Oh, Allah, where's my soul? Where's my son?" wailed Yasmine, who works at another factory in the area. "I want the factory owner to be hanged. For him, many have died, many have gone."
Mahbub said firefighters recovered 69 bodies from the second floor of the factory alone. He said most of the victims had been trapped inside the factory, located just outside of Dhaka, with no emergency exits leading outside the building.
Many workers who had taken shelter on the roof of the factory were rescued, but firefighters were unable to save those who were trapped inside, Mahbub said.
He said the fire broke out on the ground floor, which was used as a warehouse, and spread quickly to the upper floors.
"The factory had three staircases, and all of them were down through the ground floor," Mahbub said. "So the workers could not come out when the fire engulfed the building."
"Had there been at least one emergency exit through outside the factory, the casualties would have been much lower," he said.
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Apparel Brands Buying from Bangladesh Should Join the Independent Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement
Walmart's constant downward price pressure prevents factories from being able to afford necessary safety precautions and its own supply chain auditing has failed to protect workers from being killed in deadly fires.
One factory producing Walmart's Faded Glory clothing line, Tazreen Fashions, caught fire on November 24, 2012, killing 112 workers and injuring more than 200 workers in the deadliest factory fire ever in Bangladesh. According to Walmart, a supplier had subcontracted work to Tazreen Fashions without Walmart's authorization. Regardless of whether Walmart acknowledges Tazreen as an approved supplier, Walmart is responsible for the safety of the workers making its clothing and should not abandon Tazreen and its employees following this disaster.
Walmart must now provide full and fair compensation covering loss of future earnings as well as damages to the families of the dead as well as to the injured workers. In addition, to minimize the risk of future factory fires, Walmart should join the independent and comprehensive Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement with unions and labor rights groups that PVH (owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein) and German retailer Tchibo have already signed onto. The program includes independent inspections, public reporting, mandatory repairs and renovations, a central role for workers and unions in both oversight and implementation, supplier contracts with sufficient financing and adequate pricing, and a binding contract to make these commitments enforceable.
These people were making clothes at 21cents an hour for the following companies: Walmart, Kohls, Gap, Tommy Hilfinger, and many more who do not want to come forward.
I was told when I was a buyer where exactly the companies make their clothes & what countries. I was appaled to see they thought it was ok for a person in India or Pakistan, Vietnam, Poland, China, to make from 21 cents to 1 dollar a day. Also Nike still has Child labor, & others.
I know we should make our clothes in the USA and still we have migrants working in NY to make these clothes, they are beaten if not making so many in an hour.
Sympathies to the Families who have died, this should have never happened. Retail Stores This is a Rude Awakening for you not to SHOP At These Stores. Also look at the label in the garment & will tell you where it is made.
Also, the diamonds that many Upper people buy come from Africa, & if these men or young boys do not pull so many diamonds they are beaten, or their huts are burned down.
Debreers, many other diamond companies on 5th Avnue and the diamond district know.
Watch the movie Blood Roange, true story and think of clothes too
LoveofLife
So what this is saying is Walmart knew there were issues for eighteen months and did not leverage its wealth to mandate improvements.
"In its 2012 Global Responsibility report, Walmart said that "fire safety continues to be a key focus for brands and retailers sourcing from Bangladesh." Walmart said it ceased working with 49 factories in Bangladesh in 2011 due to fire safety issues, and was WORKING WITH (my emphasis) its supplier factories to phase out production from buildings deemed high risk."
Perhaps that 50th factory would have mitigated the black eye Walmart is sure to recieve from this tragedy. It's not as though its reputation is all that wonderful to start, even if all of its supplier factories were up to snuff.
"Working with"? is that like Curley and Schultz "working with" Sandusky before that mess boiled over? Nothing in the article has shown me that Wally World's influence on its suppliers (such of it as there is) has improved working conditions in Bangladesh and there is nothing from any reputable auditing agency that claims Walmart's supposed disapproving stare had any effect at all.
I suppose I should give points to the company for recognising there is a problem with their sweatshop surrogates but I can't be certain that their attention to matters is more of an effort to keep their noses clean than a real humanitarian concern.
If there was a genuine scandal, then I would certainly be interested in hearing about it. But so far all I hear is accusations, anonymous sourced claims, and "unanswered questions." It's just Fox News and Republicans trying to stir up trouble for Obama.
If we were to spend less on electronic toys and more on good American made clothing we would all be better off.