Bangladesh factory fire kills over 100 Fire swept through a garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka, killing more than 100 people, in Bangladesh's worst industrial blaze, fire brigade officials said on Sunday. The blaze at the nine-storey Tazreen Fashion factory, in the Ashulia industrial belt of the capital, started on the ground floor on Saturday night and spread, trapping hundreds of workers. "So far, the confirmed death toll is 109, including nine who died by jumping from the building," Mizanur Rahman, deputy director of the fire brigade, told Reuters news agency. Witnesses said the workers, mostly women, ran for safety as the fire engulfed the plant, but were unable to get through narrow exits. "Many jumped out from the windows and were injured, or died on the spot," said one resident called Milon. Most of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition and authorities had started burials, while people scrambled to find their missing relatives, officials and witnesses said. Unofficial sources put the number of dead at more than 120. Most of the bodies were found on the second floor, said Mr Rahman. Bangladesh has around 4,500 garment factories and is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China, with garments making up 80 per cent of its $24bn annual exports. This was the highest death toll in a Bangladeshi factory fire. In 2006, 84 people were killed in a blaze in the southern port of Chittagong, where fire exits had been blocked. Working conditions at Bangladeshi factories are often poor, with little enforcement of safety laws. Overcrowding and locked fire doors are common. The cause of the weekend's fire was not immediately known. More than 300 factories near the capital shut for almost a week earlier this year as workers demanded higher wages and better working conditions.