‘Build hospital, dormitory for workers on Tazreen factory land’

Survivors and family members of those who died in Tazreen Fashions factory fire six years ago today gathered in front of the factory premises and demanded adequate compensation and punishment of the perpetrators.

They also demanded that the land, where Tazreen Fashions factory situated, should be acquired and a hospital and a dormitory for the workers should be built there.

Read More: 6 Yrs of Tazreen Fire: Survivors pin hope on own factory

The survivors and the deceased’s family members gathered in the area around 6:00am and placed wreaths in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the incident, reports our Savar correspondent.

“The government has not done enough for the Tazreen Fashion fire victims and we demand adequate compensation,” Rehana Akther, 30, a survivor, who lost four of her family members in the incident, told our Savar correspondent.

“Even after six years, the injured and deceased’s family have not received their due compensation and neither have the perpetrators been brought to book,” said Shoumitra kumar Das, organising secretary (Central Committee) of the Garments Workers’ Front.

What happened on that fateful day?

At least 113 workers were killed and 172 were injured on November 24, 2012, in the fire at Tazreen, some 35km south of Dhaka.

When the fire broke out, the workers attempted to leave the building through the front gate, but the management had locked it from outside. Most of the survivors were left with little choice but to jump off the upper-storey windows of the building.

What is the status of the cases filed on the incident?

Two cases were filed with Ashulia Police Station against the factory owner and others. Police submitted charge sheets in both cases against 13 people, including the factory owner Delowar Hossain, on September 2015.

The cases are currently under trial at the Additional Sessions Judge Court-1 in Dhaka.