Dhaka — Panic broke out in more than a dozen factories in Bangladesh’s capital as hundreds of garment workers fell ill in a heat wave, forcing the plants to close, police said on Thursday.
Eighteen factories, which export clothes to Western retailers, have been shut since Wednesday after chaotic scenes saw some 30,000 workers leave in the middle of their shifts.
"About 500 workers became sick [on Thursday] and were taken to hospitals. On Wednesday, 365 workers fell sick," Shoeb Ahmed, head of Gazipur industrial police, told AFP. He said some workers lost consciousness in soaring temperatures, leading to others "panicking" and leaving the factories.
Mohabbat Ali, a general manager of Shareef General Hospital in Gazipur, said nearly 200 sick workers were treated at his clinic. "They were attacked by a disease called hysteria conversion reaction. We gave them saline and first aid. They were released within an hour," he told AFP.
Police and hospital officials said the labourers were malnourished, while a lack of rest owing to rising temperatures and acute power cuts had left them further weakened. "Several of them passed out in the sweltering heat on the factory floors, which then affected other workers. Malnutrition and lack of sleep also contributed to the situation," Ali said.
The temperature in Dhaka on Thursday rose to 36°C, but taking humidity into account it would have felt like 51°C, according to Accuweather.com. A mild heat wave is sweeping the country’s central and southern region including Gazipur, according to the meteorological department. "We felt nausea, vomiting and stomach pain after working for a few hours," a female worker told the New Age newspaper.
Bangladesh has more than 4,500 garment factories, many of which lack basic ventilation and air coolers, and which employ 4-million female workers at minimum monthly wages of $68.
The industry is notorious for poor workplace safety measures that have led to a series of disasters in recent years, including the collapse in April 2013 of a nine-storey factory complex in which more than 1,130 people were killed.
AFP
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