Philippines: dozens feared killed after fire at footwear factory

[cali]

*There is no indication in the article that this was connected to outsourcing (though it certainly is indicative of the problems with conditions in factories in SE Asia)*


Dozens of people are feared to have died after a fire gutted a footwear factory in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

Rex Gatchalian, mayor of the northern Manila industrial suburb of Valenzuela, said firefighters took four hours to get the blaze under control on Wednesday, and entered the burnt-out building to find an undetermined number of bodies.

They were unable to count the dead inside, but found no survivors, he said. “None of those trapped inside survived,” Gatchalian told relatives outside the factory.

He added that firefighters could not immediately determine how many bodies had been inside, but relatives told officials that up to 63 of their family members working in the factory at the time were unaccounted for.

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/13/philippines-fire-footwear-factory-manila

http://www.bet.com/news/global/photos/2013/08/workplace-death-traps-9-countries-with-the-worst-factory-conditions.html

[upaloopa]

1. Seems similar to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire

We need more trade deals