The fire at a 10-story factory in the Ashulia industrial area, about 16 miles from the capital, started on the ninth floor around lunch time when most of the workers were outside. Local reporters who had canvassed area hospitals said that at least 24 people were killed. Factory officials said they knew of about 20 deaths.
About 5,000 people worked in the building, producing pants for customers in the United States and Europe, said Delwar Hussain, a deputy managing director at the Ha-Meem Group, which owns the factory. Fire officials were still fighting the fire, which also spread to the top-most floor, into the evening as family members gathered at the compound to look for their relatives.
It was not immediately clear which specific Western retailers were supplied by the factory. Garment factories employ about 3 million Bangladeshis, most of them women, to make clothes for stores like Wal-Mart, H&M, and J.C. Penney.
The fire comes days after three people were killed in labor protests. Workers have said they were protesting because some factories had not implemented a government-mandated 80 percent increase in the minimum wage, to 3,000 taka or about $43. The government passed an increase minimum wage in August, the first hike since 2006.
It was unclear what caused the fire at the Ha-Meem fact [...]
