DHAKA, Oct 14: Workers at Bangladesh’s Export Processing Zone went on a rampage on Friday after seven garment factory workers were killed in a road accident near the zone.
Several thousand workers vented anger by taking to the streets, suspending traffic for about an hour.
According to eyewitnesses, a bus loaded with employees of a garment factory hit a bus loaded with workers of another factory when the latter were getting off the bus. Five workers travelling in the second bus died instantly, while two of the passengers travelling in the other bus died of injuries in hospital.
More than 50 workers sustained critical injuries and were admitted to different hospitals.
After the accident, enraged workers of the two factories immediately went to the spot and set the two damaged buses on fire. Witnesses said several thousand garment workers took to the streets soon after the incident and blocked the road.
They damaged 10 vehicles and ransacked almost all garment factories on a road linking the zone with a Dhaka suburb.
The protesters were later joined by thousands of colleagues and started torching vehicles.
Police soon swung into action and fired teargas shells. Twenty workers sustained injuries when the police resorted to caning the demonstrators.
