Bangladesh launches inspection blitz after blaze tragedy
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Bangladeshi protesters hold placards as some of them lie down on the ground posing as dead bodies as they condemn the death of workers in a weekend fire at a garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Nov 29, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladesh's fire department launched a surprise inspection blitz of hundreds of garment factories on Thursday after 110 workers were killed in a fire at the weekend as they made clothes for Western retailers.
As activists stepped up their campaign for better safety by protesting outside the industry's main office in downtown Dhaka, scores of inspectors descended in the suburb of Ashulia where most of the factories are based.
"We have set up 15 teams to inspect the factories," said Mr Abdus Salam, administrative director of the Bangladesh fire department.
"Initially we'll inspect all 574 factories at Ashulia and then it will be carried out in other factories across the country."
