DHAKA, 4 May 2004 — At least seven women garment workers were crushed to death and 70 injured yesterday when a false fire alarm caused thousands of workers to rush for a factory exit in Dhaka. A police officer at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital said five of the women died in hospital, while two died at a clinic near the factory.
The stampede was triggered by a small fire in a warehouse opposite the building which caused workers, some of them teenagers, to think their factory was on fire, a fire brigade spokesman said.
The six-story factory, which housed six different workshops, had only one emergency staircase, he added.
“We didn’t know what happened but we all heard shouts of ‘fire’, ‘fire’ and we all started running,” a factory worker who gave her name as Shahnaz said from her hospital bed.
