Garment Factory Explosion Kills 13 in Bangladesh

At least 13 workers were killed and dozens injured when a boiler exploded at a garment factory in Bangladesh on Monday, ripping through the six-story building and causing a portion of it to collapse.

Officials have now called off the search for survivors. The death toll was not higher because most of the factory’s 5,000 garment workers were on holiday and not in the building, officials say.

Harunur Rashid, a worker at the factory, says the boiler’s safety light was flashing danger, but the device’s operators assured them there was nothing to worry about, according to reports in the Bangladesh news media.

“Within 10 minutes after we returned to work, the boiler exploded,” he says. “It’s absolutely the authorities’ negligence.”

Witnesses report the blast ripped doors, windows, machinery and a section of the second floor wall, all of which went airborne.

The plant in the Gazipur industrial district is owned by manufacturer Multifabs.