(CBS News) Thousands of angry textile workers demonstrated in the outskirts of Dhaka on Monday, after a fire swept through a garment workshop over the weekend, killing more than 100 people in Bangladesh's worst-ever factory blaze.
Workers of Tazreen Fashions and residents blocked roads and forced the closure of other factories in the industrial suburb of Ashulia, where the huge fire started on Saturday, demanding that those responsible for the disaster be punished.
"What I want to say is that there should be immediate compensation for the families who lost their relatives and they must take the responsibility of the living and education of their children. And also the treatment for those who
were injured and take care of those who are disabled by the accident," said one of the protest leaders, Shirin Akhtar.
Police and officials said narrow exits in the nine-story building trapped workers inside, killing 111 people and injuring more than 150.
"How the factory caught fire I don't know that but when we heard 'fire' we all rushed and were trying to get out of the factory, The factory worker broke a window and one of the workers pulled me through the window. Immediately,
after the fire broke we tried to run out but the door was locked. When the floor became dark because of smoke the boys rescued me," said Parul Begum, a survivor of the fire.
"When the building caught fire I didn't know and many of us didn't know because soon after the fire the total floor was full of smoke and we could not see anything then and there was a chamber, we ran there and all of the workers
broke the windows of the chamber and we all could get out through that window," another survivor Nilima said.
Working conditions at Bangladeshi factories are notoriously poor, with little enforcement of safety laws, and overcrowding and locked fire doors are common. More than 300 factories near the capital shut for almost a week this year as workers demanded higher wages and better conditions.
