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Rescue workers and volunteers at the site of the collapsed factory building, near Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh

On 24th April an eight-storey building in

Bangladesh collapsed. It contained five

garment, or clothing, factories. Hundreds

of people, who were working in the build-

ing, died. Large clothing companies in

both Europe and North America often use

these types of factories in Bangladesh to

make the clothes they sell.

The building collapse was not the firstserious factory accident in Bangladesh.

For example, five months ago over 100workers died when their garment fac-tory caught fire. In 2005 another factory

building fell down killing 64 people.

Some people now say that the ownersof companies that get their clothes madein Bangladesh are partly to blame forthese accidents. They believe that theseinternational clothing companies shouldmake sure that the garment factoriesthey use in Bangladesh are safe places in

which to work.

The clothing industry is importantto Bangladesh. There are around 4,000clothing factories in the country. Bang-ladesh is the worlds second-largestexporter of garments. (The biggest isChina.) Around 3.6 million people workin Bangladeshs clothing factories. Mostare women.

About 80% of all Bangladeshs ex-ports are garments. Each year the value

of all the clothes sold to companies, inother parts of the world, is around 12.5billion (US$20 billion).

The latest accident happened in Savar.This is an industrial suburb about 30 kil-ometres (19 Miles) from Dhaka, Bang-ladeshs capital city. The building thatcollapsed was called Rana Plaza. As wellas the factories it contained a bank anda shopping centre. Around 5,000 peopleworked in the building. Yet, when it col-

lapsed not all of them were there.

FACTORY COLLAPSE IN BANGLADESH

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2nd May, 2013 Newsademic.com British English Cover Story edition page 2

The day before the accidentworkers noticed that cracks hadappeared in some of the buildingswalls. Local officials ordered every-one to leave. The bank and shops,

which were on the lower floors,were immediately closed.

However, two engineers are re-

ported to have said that the building

was safe. Garment factory owners

often have to produce an agreed num-

ber of clothes for their customers by a

certain date. The managers of the fac-

tories in Rana Plaza did not want to

lose any time. They told their workers

to return to work the next day.

Rescuers carrying one of the survivors

The following morning, soonafter nine oclock, the building sud-denly collapsed. At that time about3,000 people were inside. Rescueworkers quickly arrived at the site.They immediately began to try tofree those who were trapped in thewreckage. Many others volunteeredto help. The huge pile of twistedmetal and heavy concrete beamsmade the rescue work very difficult.

After hearing the news hundredsof people, whose family membersworked in the building, crowdedaround the site. They watched as

both survivors and the dead werepulled from the wreckage. At firstthose in charge of the rescue opera-tion did not want to use large cranesand other heavy lifting machinery.They worried that this type of equip-ment would cause further collapses

and endanger those still trapped.

Over the next six days severalgroups of people were found alive.Yet trying to free them took a longtime. Rescuers had to drill holes inthe collapsed floors and cut through

concrete beams that were blockingthe way. Many of those rescued had

survived in very hot temperatureswithout any food or water. It will bea long time before the exact numberof those who died is known. One es-timate is around 600.

The day after the accident the fac-

tory owners and the engineers, who

said the building was safe, were ar-

rested. But the person who owns the

building could not be found. SheikhHasina, the countrys prime minister,

ordered the police to search for him.

The owner was eventually arrested

four days later, close to the countrys

border with India. Some reports said

that he had previously arranged for

extra floors to be added to the top of

the building. It seems that the owner

had not asked local officials for per-

mission to do this. If this is true then

he was breaking the law.

The government declared that25th April would be a national day ofmourning. In the days after the acci-dent many garment workers refusedto go back to their factories. Therewere big demonstrations in Dhaka.The protesters were complainingabout having to work in unsafe build-ings. They demanded that the people

responsible for the Rana Plaza acci-dent be severely punished. The po-lice fired tear gas and rubber bulletsat some of the demonstrators.

In Bangladesh there are lawsabout workers rights and buildingsafety standards. Yet factory manag-ers often ignore them. Many wealthyfactory owners in Bangladesh donatemoney to the countrys two main po-litical parties. This means that some

leading politicians are reluctant to

make any changes, or to make surethat factory laws are obeyed.

Many large international compa-nies get some of their clothes made inBangladesh. These include Benetton,

from Italy, Loblaw, from Canada,Wal-Mart, from the USA, Primark,from the UK, and the French com-

pany Carrefour. After the accidentPrimark and Benetton admitted thatat least one of the factories in RanaPlaza had made some of their clothes.

One problem is that internationalclothing companies often want theirgarments to be made quickly andat the cheapest possible price. Fac-

tory owners in Bangladesh thereforehave to keep the cost of their opera-tions down. They do this by payinglow wages and not spending moneyon safety equipment or improvingtheir factories. Many factory work-

ers in Bangladesh are paid about24.00 (US$37.00) a month.

Some people believe those liv-ing in wealthier countries shouldnow agree to pay higher prices forclothes that are made in places likeBangladesh. Some are suggest-ing that large clothing companies,which used factories in Rana Plaza,

pay compensation to the families ofthose who died. On 29th April Pri-mark said it would do this.

Last year a Bangladeshi organi-sation, which tries to make sure thatfactory workers are treated fairly,

came up with a new idea. It drewup some rules called the Bangla-desh Fire and Safety Agreement(BFSA). This organisation wantsall clothing companies that usefactories in Bangladesh to sign theBFSA. If they do, regular safetyinspections have to be made of allthe factories that make their clothes.So far only one German and oneAmerican company have signed the

BFSA.