Bangladesh Factory Owners Arrested After Fire

Source: KABC Photo

The factory fire at Smart Export Garment Ltd. on January 26th is the second fire of this kind in two months in Dhaka, Bangladesh.  The fire killed seven women workers and injuring many others, many of whom were only teenagers.  The fire last November at Tazreen Fashion Ltd. killed 112 workers and was one of the worst in recent memory.  Since November, Bangladesh has had 18 other non-fatal fires.  Bangladesh is also the second-largest exporter of clothing after China. 

Smart Export makes garments for Inditex SA, one of the world's largest fashion distributors and also the owner of Zara, as well as many other European brands.  The owners of Smart Export, Zahir Ahmed, chairman and Mohammed Sharif Ahmed, managing director were arrested a few days ago over failure to comply with safety regulations.  Fire officials said company did not have fire safety procedures or certification.  Furthermore, the exit gate may have been locked causing a stampede and asphyxiation.


For some reason, the owners of Tazreen Fashion have yet to be arrested despite pressure from workers.

It is believed that Smart Export was a subcontractor to more established factories and retailers were not even aware that work was being subcontracted to sweatshops.  Others claims that retailers are very well aware of this practice of subcontracting to sweatshops but turn a blind eye to it in order to keep costs low and when an incident like this occurs, they feign shock and ignorance.

The Bangladeshi government has ordered an inspection of all 4,500 garment factories and will close any factories that have exit doors locked.  A report of the inspections is expected to be submitted in three months for Dhaka.  

Read more:
WWD (subscription red'q): Bangladesh Factory Execs Detained for Questioning
NY Times: Bangladesh Factory, Site of Fire That Trapped and Killed 7, Made European Brands