Deadly Bangladesh factory fire
October 8, 2013At least nine people were killed in the fire at the factory in Gazipur, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
Television footage showed three floors of the Aswad Composite Mills factory ablaze. It's understood the factory had been closed for the day but some employees inside were working overtime.
Up to 50 workers were injured in Tuesday's fire, the cause of which was not immediately known. A local fire official said the flames had spread to nearby buildings that also housed garment factories, but firefighters had extinguished flames in two buildings and were trying to bring the blaze under control in a third.
It is the latest in a series of deadly Bangladesh factory fires, including one last November that killed 112 people and placed the country's often unsafe working conditions into the global spotlight. In April, more than 1,100 people died when an eight-story factory building collapsed near Dhaka.
jr/kms (AP, Reuters)