Bangladesh - 76 garment workers confirmed dead in aftereight-storey building collapsed

[malaise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/24/bangladesh-building-collapse-kills-garment-workers
<snip>
Locals complained that the owner of the building had kept it open even after engineers had ordered the building to be evacuated on Tuesday.

Dilara Begum, a garment worker who survived the accident, said workers were ordered to leave after a crack appeared in the wall of the building on Tuesday. But on Wednesday morning supervisors had asked them to return to work, saying the building had been inspected and was safe.

"The whole world seemed to shake and then all was dark," said Begum, who worked at the Phantom apparels factory on the fourth floor of the building. She said she was pulled out by locals.

The commercial building called Rana Plaza had developed cracks at about 9am on Tuesday. The building housed four garment factories, where an estimated 5,000 workers were employed, a bank and some shops. The bank had pulled its employees on Tuesday, locals said.

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No one was getting me to go in there today

[HiPointDem]

1. i wonder which US brands they contracted for.

the machine grinds on.

where was that op about how the supposed 'international standards' that companies like nike use with their contractors are largely fake again....

[malaise]

2. We'll know before sundown today

but I can't wait for the people to find the people who told them the building was safe today

[HiPointDem]

3. i doubt there were any

[tblue]

4. 76. Oh how sad.

That gov't needs to step up and put somebody in prison for this, and protect the factory workers. PDQ!

[valerief]

6. I'm sure they'll find some low-level person to take the blame. nt

[Itchinjim]

5. The high cost of "Low Low Prices"

How many worker deaths have been caused by Wal-Mart? How many third world Triangle Shirt Waist disasters is going to take to wake us up?

[malaise]

7. None - the market is the only thing that must be kept alive

Give me all you money and your lives to boot.

[The Wizard]

8. Regulations?

Last edited Wed Apr 24, 2013, 12:16 PM - Edit history (1)

We ain't got no regulations. We don't need no stinking regulations.

[malaise]

9. We just count profits

No need for regulations and these poor ass masses are as dispensable as the cheap clothes they are sewing

[raccoon]

10. Does this only happen in Third World countries? :sarcasm: See also:

Hamlet chicken processing plant fire

The Hamlet food processing plant fire was an industrial fire in Hamlet, North Carolina, at the Imperial Foods processing plant on September 3, 1991, due to a failure in a hydraulic line. Twenty-five were killed and 55 injured in the fire, trapped behind locked fire doors. In 11 years of operation, the plant had never received a safety inspection.[1] Investigators believe a safety inspection might have prevented the disaster.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_chicken_processing_plant_fire

[HiPointDem]

11. +1

[malaise]

12. That explosion in Texas last week

was operating without regulation as well.

Just dispensable workers

[Blue_Tires]

13. this is still the ugliest case:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampoong_Department_Store_collapse

and IIRC, the Imperial Foods plant shuffled some cash to the county to look the other way...

[raccoon]

14. The casualties were certainly the worst. nt

[malaise]

15. Casualties have increased

Latest news is that 100 people died - mostly young women