Fire kills 50 garment workers in Bangladesh

DHAKA, NOV 26: A fire caused a stampede in a garment factory killing at least 50 people, many of them women and children, police and doctors said today. More than 100 others were hospitalised after the fire broke out last night at Chowdhury Knitwear Garments factory, a four-story building in Narsingdi district, 40 km east of Dhaka.

The death toll could rise as some of the injured were in critical condition, a police official supervising the rescue efforts said. He spoke on condition of anonymity. At least 900 workers were in the factory when the fire broke out on its fourth floor. The panicked workers tried to escape, scrambling through the factory8217;s narrow stairwells and many of them fell on each other.

The only exit door on the ground floor was reportedly locked for security reasons, preventing the workers from leaving the factory.

Fire fighters broke open the locked gates and conducted rescue operations.