Deliberate or coincidental? The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) boss finds himself on a slippery slope where any of the two options may seem possible, for the double dose of misfortune that befell his factory’s workers.
At least 350 workers of The Rose Dresses Ltd, owned by BGMEA President Atiqul Islam, became sick after drinking water supplied by the authorities.
It happened around 9am Sunday, two days after 150 workers of the same factory had food poisoning after eating adulterated snacks.
The factory was closed on Saturday following the incident and resumed Sunday – only to set off another round of misfortune, from adulterated water this time.
Sources said, workers felt sick after resuming their work on Sunday morning and drinking the water supplied for them. They showed signs of food-borne illnesses like headache, numbness and vomiting.
Initially, they were taken to the Center for Women and Child Health Hospital – the same facility that treated Friday’s victims.
As the number of sick people increased, some of them were taken to Enam Medical College, some to Nightingale Medical College & Hospital, and others to different clinics in Ashulia and Savar.
One of the workers said there were acute shortages of ambulances and microbuses, leading to unrest among local volunteers and delay in the treatment.
At one point, locals and workers of nearby factories, who came to help transport the victims, got angry and hurled brickbats at Rose Dresses’s.
One of the agitators got bullet wounds as members of industrial police tried to disperse them, charging them with batons and firing rubber bullets and teargas shells in their direction.
The injured was admitted to the Enam Medical College Hospital. Ashulia Industrial Police Director Mostafizur Rahman acknowledged that one person was bullet-hit, saying it happened as police officials were performing their duty.
The factory was declared closed for Sunday.
An ailing worker, who is receiving treatment at Enam Medical College, accused the factory’s authorities of negligence and taking “no cautionary measures” to prevent a repeat of the Friday tragedy.
“On Friday, some workers became sick after drinking the unhygienic water supplied by the authorities. They resumed the factory work without taking any cautionary measures, so it happened again,” she said.
BGMEA President Atiqul Islam, however, said “sorry” for the incident.
“We are really sorry for this unexpected incident that happened in The Rose Dresses Ltd. We already sent samples of water to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDRB) for examination. I assure you we will bear all the expenses related to the ailing workers’ treatment,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
The health and family planning official of Savar, Dr Mosharraf Hossain, said a three-member probe committee, headed by Savar’s medical officer Dr Rownak Jahan Urmi, had been formed to investigate the incident.
The committee had been asked to submit its report within seven days, he added.