Factory Boss at Primark Supplier Addresses Fire That Injured 20

Mayu Saini
·5 min read

Twenty people were injured Monday morning after a fire broke out at H&M and Primark supplier Fakir Apparels in Dhaka’s bustling suburb of Narayanganj and now a factory executive is speaking out.

Although no workers died in the Bangladesh garment factory fire, a fireman driving to the blaze was killed along with a pedestrian and an autorickshaw driver. Several other firefighters were injured in the fire, which they doused by 11:30 a.m.

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Fire service officials told Sourcing Journal they have yet to determine the cause of the fire, but losses and damage included the property, equipment and garment stock. “We had 10 units that went into service, and were able to extinguish the fire,” a representative said, adding that the fire appeared to originate in the factory’s dyeing unit extension.

A Fakir Apparels official told Sourcing Journal the company continues to investigate how the blaze broke out.

“We’re still trying to investigate the causes of the fire,” said Fakir Maniruzzaman, managing director, Fakir Apparels. “We are still trying to find what was the cause and origin of the fire. Primary investigation shows this was due to the inverter of a very state-of-the-art machine, but we’re waiting for the final investigation results to come in.”

Maniruzzaman said the fire department, RMG Sustainability Council (RSC) and “other separate investigations” are working to discover “what happened and why it happened.”

Maniruzzaman said the on-premise fire brigade quickly leaped into action before the local fire department vehicles and officers arrived. “This is the extension where washing and brushing happens,” he said. “All our units have 20 feet in between the sheds so we can just avoid situations just like this so it doesn’t spread from one to the other.”

He also discussed the state of the Fakir Apparels facility, which is also linked to Guess Inc., in the aftermath of the fire. “A lot of fabric was damaged, but many of our machines were recovered,” he said. “We’re still noting the extent of the damage.”

The executive pointed to Fakir Apparels’ “very strong track record on good practices,” adding that “our scores with RSC are very high.”

“The International Labour Organisation picked us to showcase the industry, when the Queen [of Belgium] was visiting and one of the things we highlighted to her was about how far Bangladesh has come since Rana Plaza,” Maniruzzaman said. “So, obviously this wasn’t anticipated. However, there were no casualties, and the factory restarted operation by the afternoon.”

Narayanganj is home to an estimated 2,409 facilities across industries, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, and hosts several jute mills and related production plants.

Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest apparel exporter after China, with output rising 10 percent to $46.99 billion in the financial year ending June 30, according to Export Promotion Bureau data.

While investigations into the Fakir Apparels factory fire continue, industry officials said Bangladesh is making factory safety a priority, but warned that no area of the garment-producing world is immune to risk. “The fact that there were no fatalities at the factory speaks for itself,” they said, asking not to be named as the incident is still under investigation.

Sourcing Journal reached out to H&M and Guess for comment. A Primark spokesperson said the company was “concerned” to hear of the Fakir fire.

“We are in touch with the supplier to offer our support and we hope the workers impacted have a quick recovery,” the Irish fast-fashion retailer’s rep said. “The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the RSC and once we have more details, our team on the ground will work with the supplier and the RSC to understand what corrective measures can be put in place.”

Fakir Apparels is covered under the RSC, which inherited the operations of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety in 2020, and has representatives of the manufacturers, trade unions and brands. The organization continues the Accord’s work monitoring factory safety and carrying out inspections, after the Acord left Bangladesh and has globally as the International Accord, adding a second program country in Pakistan in December 2022.

While the RSC website shows that Fakir Apparels Ltd achieved a 100 percent progress rate and completed the required safety training program, compliance training hasn’t started at the factory extension. Fakir Apparels is seen in the industry as one of the pioneers in factory improvements and in moving towards sustainability. Queen Mathilde of Belgium recognized Fakir Apparels’ carbon-cutting and renewable energy progress when she visited the Narayanganj manufacturing plant in February.

The focus on factory safety has risen over the past decade in Bangladesh, after more than 111 workers died in the Tazreen Fashion Ltd factory fire in Ashulia. The deadly November 2012 incident occurred because fire escape routes were not properly marked, and locked exit gates barred workers from escaping. After the watershed Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 killed more than 1,130 and prompted global brands and retailers to launch fire, structural and worker safety programs, industry watchers believe Bangladesh has blossomed into one of the “safest manufacturing countries in the world”.

“Is it really one of the safest?” one non-governmental organization representative said. “Or is there still much work to be done?”

Additional reporting by Jessica Binns.

Editor’s note: This article was updated on July 26, 2023 to reflect Primark’s statement and on July 27 with Fakir Apparels’ response.

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