VZCZCXRO6795
PP RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHHM RUEHJO
DE RUEHKA #1740/01 0890851
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 300851Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6513
INFO RUCNCLC/CHILD LABOR COLLECTIVE
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1050
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 8988
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7373
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0238
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1416
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 8463
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1028
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0495
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0064
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 001740 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ETRD PHUM PGOV BG
SUBJECT: EYEWITNESSES PLACE KTS FACTORY FIRE DEATHS AT OVER 
300 
 
REF: DHAKA 01528 
 
DHAKA 00001740  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Media reported that a fire on February 23 
at the Chittagong KTS Textile factory killed 61 people and 
injured over a hundred.  Laboff spoke to KTS factory workers 
who described the fire which destroyed the factory, left 
hundreds of workers searching for work, others seeking unpaid 
wages, and, in the worse cases, searching for missing 
relatives.  Eyewitnesses and union organizers placed the 
death toll at over 300. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On March 16, with the assistance of a local labor 
NGO, the Bangladesh Independent Garment Union Federation 
(BIGUF), laboff spoke to 30 workers from the KTS factory at 
BIGUF's Chittagong offices.  Media reported that there were 
1,100 workers in the factory, but BIGUF's representative told 
laboff that he estimated only 600 workers were present. The 
mostly women workers were in their early 20's or teens.  Two 
teenagers told laboff they were 11 and 12 years old.  Asked 
what work they do at the factory, they said they were 
inspectors, which is typical work for younger, entry level 
workers. 
 
¶3. (SBU) One young woman, who said she was 16, described the 
outbreak of the fire. After their 6 PM break time, many of 
the workers were coming down from the roof, a popular break 
area in the factory, and a mandatory break area for the 
youngest workers, she said.  Many workers smelled smoke, and 
told their supervisors, who responded by ordering the 
gatekeepers to lock perimeter gates that led the street, she 
said. Asked why the owner did this, she said it was normal 
for "the owner to lock the gates to prevent theft." Asked if 
this would impede the fire department from entering and 
fighting the fire, she said that three months earlier, 
another fire had broken out and management and workers 
stopped the fire then, and management thought "they could put 
out the fire as in the past." 
 
¶4. (SBU) Soon, she said, it was obvious to the production 
supervisors that the fire was "too big" and uncontrollable, 
so the supervisor broke some windows to permit workers on her 
floor to jump to the ground below. She said she was on the 
upper level of the four-floor building, and after jumping was 
caught by people on the ground below.  She and several other 
workers showed the burns on their hands and feet, and 
complained of body aches from jumping.  They told laboff 
about other workers with more serious burns and injuries. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Another worker told laboff that at around 10 PM, she 
went to the Chittagong Medical Hospital to search for her 
missing brother, and saw at least 25 dead or dying people in 
the hallways. She said that members of the Rapid Action 
Battalion (RAB) started to enter the hospital, and told her 
to come back at 9 AM in the morning when Prime Minister Zia 
was expected to arrive to survey the factory damage.  Wanting 
to find her brother, she told the RAB officers that she would 
come back in the morning but instead went to another part of 
the hospital where she saw bodies of people "stacked higher 
than my head."  She told laboff that she counted more than 
300 bodies but could not "identify anyone as all of their 
clothes had been burnt off." She is still missing her 
brother, she said. BIGUF's local representative told laboff 
he has documented 350 deaths related to the fire, and showed 
laboff grisly photos of burnt bodies. 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to the workers, the factory was about only 
a year and half old, Bangladeshi owned and managed, but 
undergoing expansion.  They said that a gas welding machine 
was broken and caused the previous fire, and assumed the 
broken machine caused this one as well. Sources reported that 
the police have arrested a company accountant and another 
factory supervisor, but the owner remains at large. BIGUF's 
representative told laboff that he knows of 55 workers who 
are seriously injured and still in the hospital as of 
mid-March.  Media placed the latest death toll at 84 dead. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The workers told laboff that the fire, which 
occurred near the end of the month, meant that they had not 
received their month's wages, and don't know whom to contact. 
 
DHAKA 00001740  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 They said that the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturer and 
Exporter Association (BGMEA) paid a few dozen workers 3,700 
taka or 52 USD, but "we have not been paid." (Note: An 
average highly proficient garment worker gets 2,200 to 4,000 
taka a month or 31 to 57 USD. End Note.) The BIGUF 
representative said they are assisting workers to get their 
wages and severance pay, and added that the families of the 
dead are supposed to receive 100,000 taka or 1,400 USD but 
none have been paid this. He said that in order to receive 
this money, the family must provide a death certificate. 
However, none of the families have the 1,000 taka needed to 
pay for the certificate. 
CHAMMAS