Fires trigger stampede, injuring 20 in N'ganj

Twenty garment workers were injured when panicked workers jostled to come out of their factories in Narayanganj after fires broke out there yesterday.

Fifteen workers of Ananta Apparels Ltd in Export Processing Zone of Shiddhirganj were injured during a stampede triggered by a fire that broke out around 3:00pm during welding work in the store room on the third floor.

Four units doused the fire, said Mamunur Rashid, deputy assistant director of Narayanganj Fire Service and Civil Defence.

In another incident, five workers were injured as a fire broke out at Rimi Holding Ltd in the same area around 1:45pm, said the fire official, suspecting that the fire might have originated from an electric short circuit.

Nine of the injured were taken to Narayanganj General Hospital while the rest only needed first aid.