UK announces £18m aid for Bangladesh factory workers

Uk, June 5 – The UK is to donate £18m to help train Bangladeshi garment workers, following the collapse of a factory in Dhaka that killed more than 1,100 people.

 

Minister Alan Duncan announced the aid as he visited those injured when the Rana Plaza building collapsed in April.

 

He also called on British clothes retailers to "assume responsibility" for the way their products are made.

 

Mr Duncan said the collapse had been a "wake-up" call and safety standards in Bangladesh needed to be strengthened.

 

The Rana Plaza collapse was one of the world's worst industrial disasters and sparked global outrage.

 

The authorities say 1,130 people died, about 2,500 people were injured and 2,437 people were rescued after the disaster.

'From store to sewing machine'

 

It highlighted working conditions, low wages and safety standards in the country's garment sector; the building housed many operations producing low-cost garments for Western companies.

 

International Development Minister Mr Duncan visited survivors at a Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, supported by UK aid, in Savar, the district where the collapse took place.

 

He said: "The Rana Plaza factory collapse was devastating in its scale and, along with factory fires, must be taken as a wake-up call to all of us.

BBC