All garment factories across the country will remain closed tomorrow and day after tomorrow, said Md Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufactures & Exporters Association (BGMEA), today.
He made this announcement while briefing reporters at the BGMEA building in the capital’s Karwan Bazar around 6:30pm.
BGMEA and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association jointly organised the press briefing.
The decision came in the wake of a series of demonstration and vandalism by thousands of garment workers in Dhaka, Savar, Gazipur and Narayanganj yesterday and today following the death of over 300 people, mainly garment workers, in a building collapse at Savar on Wednesday.
Over 2,000 people were also injured in the collapse of the eight-storey commercial building – Rana Plaza – while a combined rescue operation is still underway to pull out the victims trapped under the wreckage.
Thousands of aggrieved garment workers attacked dozens of garment factories, vandalised vehicles on the streets and clashed with the law enforcers in the capital, Savar, Gazipur and Narayanganj yesterday and today protesting the deaths of their fellow workers.
They also demanded punishment to the people responsible behind the Savar tragedy.
The workers who survived the building collapse alleged that they were forced to join the garment factories housed in the Rana Plaza despite their refusal after seeing the cracks which developed in the building on Tuesday.
