KONABARI, Bangladesh (Reuters) - A boiler explosion at a Bangladeshi garment plant near the city of Dhaka killed 10 people and injured dozens, emergency workers said on Tuesday, the latest industrial tragedy to hit one of the world’s biggest garment producers.

A man, who lost his daughter-in-law, cries while talking on the phone following a deadly boiler blast inside a garment factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, July 4, 2017. REUTERS/Probal Rashid

The blast, late on Monday, occurred at a plant operated by local Bangladeshi firm Multifabs while maintenance work was going on, company and fire brigade officials said.

The explosion at the boiler, located in a tin-roofed shed, partially damaged a nearby three-storey factory building.

“I heard a big bang when I was having tea outside,” factory driver Hafiz Mostafa said, as dozens thronged the factory site and firefighters moved rubble in search of missing persons. “I saw windows, doors, glasses, machinery and a section of the wall of the building go flying.”

Families scoured the scene for missing people. The plant had been shut for 10 days for Eid holidays at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and was being readied to resume operations on Tuesday, when the accident occurred.

“We’re looking for my brother. We checked all the hospitals, but have not found him,” said Nazim Uddin, whose brother Ershad Ullah worked as an electrician at the plant for the last decade.

Multifabs has many clients in Europe, its website says.

The company started operating in 1992 and reached $70 million in exports in 2016. Its top buyers include fashion chain Lindex, which is part of Finland’s Stockmann, German supermarket chain Aldi, and Rexholm of Denmark, Faruqui said.

The company said the plant was functioning well and the six-year-old boiler, procured from Germany, had just been serviced.

“The boiler was running well,” Mahiuddin Faruqui, Multifab’s chairman told Reuters. “After servicing when workers were trying to restart it, it went off.”

Firefighter Faruk Hussain said a body had been retrieved from the rubble in the morning and that the search was still on for more victims.

INVESTIGATION

Bangladesh’s roughly $28 billion garment sector, the biggest in the world after China, employs 4 million people and generates about 80 percent of the country’s export earnings.

It came under scrutiny after the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in 2013 that killed more than 1,100 people, and a fire at a garment factory in 2012 that killed 112 workers.

The Rana Plaza disaster sparked demands for greater safety and put the onus to act on foreign companies sourcing clothing from Bangladesh.

A spokeswoman for Stockmann said it was investigating the disaster, but was still seeking more information.

She said Stockmann is a member of the industry body Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), and that said Multifabs had cleared a BSCI audit in May 2016 that was valid for two years.

Lindex said Multifabs was one of its main suppliers and said it was monitoring the situation.

The Multifabs site hurt by the blast made 100,000 garments a day, generated around $6 million of revenue a month and employed about 6,000 workers, said Mesba Faruqui, factory and operations director in the family-run business.

Two international coalitions were formed after Rana Plaza to help fund improvements to building and fire safety at thousands of garment factories across Bangladesh.

One of the coalitions, signatories to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, inspected the Multifabs site in 2015 and noted among numerous concerns that Multifabs’ boiler was not separated by fire-rated construction.

As of last week, however, the Accord’s updated corrective plan on the facility listed that issue as having been corrected.

But the coalition itself does not inspect boilers, which are monitored by the Bangladesh government.

Bangladesh’s chief boiler inspector Mohammad Abdul Mannan said his department had inspected the Multifabs’ boiler a year ago and that the next inspection had been due this month.

Sulav Chowdhury, chief executive of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, of which Multifabs is a member, said the industry had gone through a “huge shift” since the Rana Plaza disaster.

“There has been structural change, and we’ve worked hard for it,” he said. “So I’d say this is a stray incident.”

Related Coverage Factbox: Major industrial accidents in Bangladesh in recent years

Still, critics say more work needs to be done.

“There is still an enormous amount to be done to improve safety in the Bangaldeshi garment industry” said the IndustriALL Global Union, a signatory to the Bangladesh Accord and a member of the Steering Committee.

It added that union signatories to the Accord would demand that it be expanded swiftly to include boiler safety.</s>A boiler explosion at a garment factory in Bangladesh owned by export-oriented Multifabs Ltd has killed 10 people and injured 50, police said.

Local police chief Aminul Islam said the explosion took place on Monday evening at a factory in Gazipur district, outside the capital, Dhaka.

By Tuesday afternoon, 10 deaths had been reported.

Mr Islam said the search for more victims was ongoing.

It was not clear how many remained missing.

Bangladesh has about 4,000 garment factories and is the world’s second-largest producer after China.

The country has improved its factory safety standard remarkably after the collapse of a complex housing five factories killed more than 1,100 people in 2013.</s>Bangladeshi firefighters and rescuers stand on the debris after a Monday evening boiler explosion at a garment factory owned by export-oriented Multifabs Ltd. at Kashimpur area in Gazipur district, outside capital Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. less Bangladeshi firefighters and rescuers stand on the debris after a Monday evening boiler explosion at a garment factory owned by export-oriented Multifabs Ltd. at Kashimpur area in Gazipur district, outside ... more Bangladeshi rescuers stand on the debris after a Monday evening boiler explosion at a garment factory owned by export-oriented Multifabs Ltd. at Kashimpur area in Gazipur district, outside capital Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, July 4, 2017.

Start the conversation, or Read more at SFGate.</s>A boiler explosion at a garment factory in Bangladesh owned by export-oriented Multifabs Ltd. has killed 10 people and injured 50, officials said Tuesday. Local police chief Aminul Islam said the explosion took place on Monday evening at Kashimpur area in Gazipur district, outside the capital, Dhaka.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Fox News.</s>Dhaka, July 4 - At least 10 people were killed and 50 others injured in a boiler room explosion at a garment factory in central Bangladesh. The search for more bodies in the debris continues, officials said on Tuesday.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Nerve News.</s>DHAKA, Bangladesh — A boiler explosion at a garment factory in Bangladesh owned by export-oriented Multifabs Ltd. has killed 10 people and injured 50, officials said Tuesday.

Local police chief Aminul Islam said the explosion occurred Monday evening at Kashimpur in Gazipur district, outside the capital, Dhaka. By Tuesday afternoon, 10 deaths had been reported.

Islam said the search for more victims was continuing. Relatives said about six people remained missing.

The injured were being treated at hospitals, Islam said.

Authorities have ordered an investigation into the cause of the explosion.

Relatives waited outside the four-story building Tuesday for news about their loved ones as firefighters searched for victims.

The company’s website says it produces about 140,000 pieces of knitted apparel a day for export.

Bangladesh has about 4,000 garment factories and is the world’s second-largest producer after China. The country has improved its factory safety standards after the collapse of a complex housing five factories killed more than 1,100 people in 2013. But experts say many factories still need to upgrade their machinery and increase building safety.</s>Boiler blast rips through six-storey building outside Dhaka, causing its walls and a roof to collapse.

At least eight people were killed and up to 50 injured after a boiler exploded at a garment factory in Bangladesh on Monday, authorities said.



Dozens of labourers were on site at the facility in an industrial district outside the capital, Dhaka, when a blast tore through the six-storey building, causing its walls and a roof to collapse.



"It is a terrible scene. Fire brigade officers have arrived and are doing rescue work. The factory's boiler exploded and the blast also affected other buildings near the factory," police officer Harunur Rashid told the AFP news agency.



"Eight people were killed and approximately 50 were injured. Six bodies were recovered at the spot and two more in the hospital. The casualties included passers-by who were walking outside the factory," Mohammad Akhteruzzaman, deputy assistant director of the fire service, told AFP.

He said the explosion was so powerful that it destroyed parts of the factory, including "a roof and several walls".

Thirty-five people are undergoing treatment at different health facilities in the Gazipur district, according to physician Pronoy Bhushan Das, and many of those injured are in critical condition.

Al Amin, a worker at a nearby garment factory, said he was attending evening prayers at a mosque close to the factory at around 7pm when the explosion shook the whole area.



"I ran to the spot instantly and saw a huge smoke. I saw blood all over the bodies of some injured workers and instantly called the fire brigade," he told AFP.



According to factory director Mesba Faruqui, the main site was closed on Monday but a group of workers were overseeing maintenance of the boiler.

The factory is owned by textiles manufacturer Multifabs, which makes clothing for mostly European brands according to its website.

Bangladesh has more than 4,500 garment factories employing four million mostly female workers at minimum monthly wage of $68.



The industry is notorious for poor workplace safety, with many of the factories lacking basic equipment such as ventilation and air coolers.



In April 2013, the nine-storey Rana Plaza factory complex collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people in one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

The Bangladeshi government and international buyers have been trying to improve working conditions in the garment sector, which adds about $29bn in terms of exports to the country's economy, according to the Bangladeshi statistics office.</s>A.M. Ahad / The Associated Press

DHAKA, BANGLADESH—A boiler explosion at a garment factory in Bangladesh owned by export-oriented Multifabs Ltd. has killed 10 people and injured 50, officials said Tuesday.

Local police chief Aminul Islam said the explosion occurred Monday evening at Kashimpur in Gazipur district, outside the capital, Dhaka. By Tuesday afternoon, 10 deaths had been reported.

Islam said the search for more victims was continuing. Relatives said about six people remained missing.

The injured were being treated at hospitals, Islam said.

Authorities have ordered an investigation into the cause of the explosion.</s>Dhaka: A boiler has exploded at a Bangladeshi garment factory killing 10 people and injuring dozens, fire officials said on Tuesday, the latest mishap to hit one of the world’s biggest garment producers.

The accident happened late on Monday at a plant of Multifabs Limited, a Bangladeshi company on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, a fire official said.

The firm supplies knitted apparel to clients in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Spain, Netherlands and Britain, including to Littlewoods, one of Britain’s oldest retail brands, according to its website.

“Nine people were killed in the blast and one died in hospital,” fire service official Palash Chandra Modak said.

The company said the plant was functioning well and the boiler had just been serviced. “This was an accident. Everything was fine,” Mahiuddin Faruqui, company chairman and managing director told Reuters.“The boiler was running well. After servicing when workers were trying to restart it, it went off.”

Bangladesh’s garment-making industry, the biggest in the world after China’s, employs four million people and generates 80% of its export earnings.

Multifabs started operating in 1992, and reached $70 million in exports in 2016, supplying European brands such as fashion chain Lindex, which is part of Finnish retailer Stockmann and Aldi, Faruqui said. Bangladesh’s garment sector came under scrutiny after the collapse of a factory complex in 2013 that killed more than 1,100 people, and a fire at a garment factory in 2012 that killed 112 workers.

Activists have criticized many retailers for failing to improve working conditions in their supply chains with long hours, low pay, poor safety standards and not being allowed to form trade unions common complaints of garment workers. Reuters</s>DHAKA - A boiler explosion at a Bangladeshi garment factory killed 10 people and injured dozens, fire officials said on Tuesday, the latest accident to hit one of the world’s biggest garment producers.

The incident late on Monday happened during maintenance work at the factory owned by Multifabs Limited, a Bangladeshi company on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, company and fire brigade officials said. “Nine people were killed in the blast and one died in hospital,” fire service official Palash Chandra Modak said.

The firm supplies knitted apparel to clients in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Spain, Netherlands and Britain, including to Littlewoods, one of Britain’s oldest retail brands, according to its website.

Fashion chain Lindex, which is part of Finnish retailer Stockmann, said the Bangladeshi firm was one of its most important suppliers.

Multifabs said the six-year-old boiler, procured from Germany, had just been serviced. The blast happened as the factory was being readied to resume operations following a 10-day shutdown for the Eid holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“This was an accident. Everything was fine,” Mahiuddin Faruqui, the company’s chairman and managing director, told Reuters. “The boiler was running well. After servicing when workers were trying to restart it, it went off.”

Bangladesh’s garment-making industry, the biggest in the world after China’s, employs 4 million people and generates 80 percent of the country’s export earnings.

For years, activists had criticised retailers for failing to improve working conditions in supply chains characterised by long hours, low pay, poor safety standards and a lack of union representation for workers.

But Bangladesh came under close scrutiny after the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in 2013, which killed more than 1,100 people, and a fire at a garment factory in 2012 that killed 112 workers.

It sparked demands for greater safety and put the onus to act on foreign companies sourcing clothing from Bangladesh.

Two international coalitions were formed to help fund improvements to building and fire safety at thousands of garment factories across Bangladesh.

One of those, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, said fire incidents in Bangladeshi factories fell to 30 in 2015 from 250 in 2012. The alliance represents most North American importers of readymade garments, including Canadian Tire Corp, Gap Inc, Sears Holdings Corp, Target Corp and Wal-Mart Stores.

Multifabs, which started operating in 1992, generated exports of $70 million in 2016, mostly from sales to Europe.

Its major buyers were fashion chain Lindex, Aldi of Germany and Rexholm of Denmark, Faruqui said.

Stockmann Communications Manager Anna Bjarland confirmed that the factory supplied garments to both Stockmann and Lindex.

Bjarland said the company was investigating and was waiting for more information from the Bangladeshi authorities and their local sales office.

Stockmann is a member of the industry group Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), and Bjarland said that Multifabs had cleared a BSCI audit in May 2016, valid for two years.
A garment factory boiler explosion in Dhaka, Bangladesh, kills 10 people and injures dozens.