Bangladesh factory fire toll 54, say officials

Chittagong (Bangladesh), Feb 25: The official death toll from Bangladesh's worst factory fire in the port city of Chittagong was 54, disaster management officials said today (Feb 25, 2006).

Dozens of workers were still missing today, feared trapped under heaps of rubble, and may not be found as the resue effort was officially ended lasr evening.

An earlier toll from the K T S Textile Mill put the number of dead at 65 with over 80 injured, but those figures have now been revised.

Most of the victims were women on the late shift.

Police said the main gate of the three-storey factory, which employed about 1,500 workers had been locked from the outside when the fire broke out.

Textiles are Bangladesh's biggest export fetching the country some 6 billion dollars annually, but safety standards at the mills are poor, officials and employees say.

More than 350 workers have been killed and more than 2,500 were injured in garment factory fires in Bangladesh since 1990, textile industry officials said.

Reuters