By Emb Hashmi
Primark to pay compensation to families of disaster
1127 people killed after the collapse of a factory building near Dhaka, Bangladesh, which has been speculated as the worst accident in the history of the garment industry in the country. It is said to be worse than the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911.
Bangladeshi officials are still investigating the causes behind the factory’s collapse on April 24, however Sohel Rana, the building’s owner, was arrested as he attempted to flee the country.
The tragedy has taken a bizarre twist, as the factor is said have supplied big European retail giants such as Primark. Bosses at the popular high street clothes store Primark have said they will pay compensation to the families of their workers involved in the Bangladesh building collapse that took the lives of 1127 people.
The budget clothing chain occupied a floor of the eight-storey building, and some of the workers injured and killed in the incident worked for a company that supplied the brand.
In a statement released on its website, a Primark spokesman said: “Primark’s team in Bangladesh has been working to put in place immediate and long-term help for victims of this disaster.
“We have partnered with a local NGO to address the immediate needs of victims, including the provision of emergency food aid to families. This initiative began in Bangladesh immediately (when) the extent of the disaster became clear.
“Primark will also pay compensation to the victims of this disaster who worked for its supplier. This will include the provision of long-term aid for children who have lost parents, financial aid for those injured and payments to the families of the deceased.”
Ruth Tanner, campaigns and policy director at the anti-poverty charity War on Want, said: “If UK high street chains like Primark had put in place proper measures to ensure the workers who make their clothes are safe, these deaths could have been avoided.
The investigation continues into the disaster.
