RMG workers block road

Forty organisations of garment workers stage a rally in front of Jatiya Press Club in the capital on Sunday protesting the deaths of 111 workers in a devastating fire at a garment factory, Tazreen Fashions Ltd, in Nischintapur of Ashulia, near Dhaka Export Processing Zone, on November 24.Photo: STAR

Hundreds of garment workers yesterday blocked Dhaka-Tangail highway on the capital's outskirts Ashulia demanding punishment for those responsible for Saturday's fire, which killed at least 111 of their fellow workers.
As the protest broke out, most of the garment units in Ashulia were declared closed for yesterday to avoid any untoward incident, police sources said.
Vehicular movement remained suspended for around three hours from 9:00am, said witnesses, as the protesters pelted masonry at some speeding vehicles and police men who put barricade at Bipile on the highway to hold back the workers. But no casualty was reported.
Earlier, the agitating workers staged protest in front of Tazreen Fashion Ltd in Ashulia, where the fire broke out.
Meanwhile, the home ministry formed a four-member committee on Sunday to investigate the incident.
The committee visited the spot yesterday and found that the factory had no emergency exit, which could reduce the casualties.
Additional Secretary to Home Ministry Main Uddin Khandaker, who is heading the committee, told The Daily Star, "We are investigating whether the fire originated from an electric short circuit or it was an arson."
He said the victims died from suffocation in smoke as they could not move out of the building. The committee will submit its report and recommendations within 15 working days.
Ashulia police suspected the fire to be an arson and a sub-inspector of the police station filed a case on Sunday night against some unidentified persons on charge of setting fire to Tazreen Fashion Ltd.
A team of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) along with forensic doctors of Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday collected samples from 57 unidentified bodies to find out their identities through DNA tests.
The 57 bodies will be buried at Jurain graveyard in the capital today. Anjuman Mufidul Islam, a voluntary organisation, will arrange the burial.