A readymade garments worker burnt to death after a garment factory was set on fire by a mob at Konabari area in Dhaka’s Gazipur on Monday evening. The deceased’s identity, aged around 32, could not be known immediately.
The incident took place at around 5.45pm when a group of agitating people set fire on a garments factory, ABM Fashion during a protest by RMG workers for higher wages, said Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, Deputy Commissioner of DB in Gazipur municipality.
Four fire service unit in association with police brought the blaze under control around 9:00pm, said Rashed bin Khaled, duty officer of the Fire Service and Civil Defence control room. The body was recovered from the first floor of the building, he added.
Quoting locals, Gazipur Industrial Police Inspector Rezaul Karim said protesters from other factories might have set fire to the factory.
Witnesses said workers from various garment factories blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway in Konabari around 3:00pm demanding a salary increase.
At one stage, the protesting workers came in front of ABM Fashion and asked the workers to join the protest. At that time, as the ABM garment authorities closed the gate, the workers could not go out. During this time, the protesting workers threw bricks at the ABM’s workers.
Later, they set fire to the factory which gutted 3 floors of the factory building, they added.
