Dhaka: The Bangladesh government has declared Tuesday, 27 November, as the day of national mourning for all those who lost their lives in Saturday’s devastating garment factory fire and in a flyover collapse.
At least 123 people were killed in the garment factory fire in Ashulia on the outskirts of Dhaka and in a flyover collapse in the southeastern port city of Chittagong. The factory fire claimed 111 lives and the 12 others perished in the flyover collapse, according to official figures.
The fire at a Bangladesh garment factory. AP.
The government has also declared a day off at all ready-made garment factories across the country Tuesday, Xinhua reported.
The decisions were taken at a weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Cabinet Secretary M. Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said that as part of the mourning, national flags will be flown at half-mast at the offices of all government, semi-government and autonomous and academic institutions as well as in other important buildings.
Special prayers will be offered at mosques, temples, pagodas, churches and other places of worship Tuesday, he said.
Yet another fire broke out Monday morning in a 12-storeyed garment factory near the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, a day after the deadly blaze in Ashulia, but no casualty was reported.
The blaze at the Euro-Bangla Garment building started around 10 a.m., fire service official Nazma Akter told Xinhua.
IANS
