Investigations into the fire incident in a garments factory in Baldia Town in which 289 workers, including several women, were burnt to death revealed that the management of the factory had locked the three out of four gates permanently to avoid theft of finished products.
Not only this ill-fated factory but also the management of all garments factories located in Karachi have adopted this trend to avoid theft of material and finished products. Even the windowpanes were sealed off using iron grills to avoid theft.
Muhammad Salim, a worker of the ill-fated factory, told Pakistan Today that the management had locked all the entry and exit points of the factory to avoid incidents of theft. There are four gates in the factory but only one gate was used for entrance and exit. Few months ago, the security department reported some complaints about theft of finished products due to which the management adopted different precautionary measures to prevent such incidents in future. Some workers of the factory stole expensive finished products and sold them in the market against few pennies amid increasing inflation and low salaries. The management hence tightened security of the factory and every worker was subjected to checking on arrival and departure from the factory,” he added.
He said on Monday evening, three minor blasts took place and within few minutes there was smoke and heat every where in the factory. Due to smoke in the factory it was difficult to search the way to come out of the factory. “I also searched for a way to come out of the factory but all in vain. I was sitting near the windowpane but it was also sealed with iron grill and after hour long effort I successfully broke the grill and jumped from second floor to save my life,” he said.
The security officer of the factory could not be located for comments.
Nasir, a security officer working in Karachi’s largest garments factory in Korangi who has also worked in the ill-fated factory, told Pakistan Today that the garments’ manufacturers are facing problems of theft. Even at his workplace only one gate was open while the other gates were locked to avoid theft and were used in emergency only. “A common worker is not allowed to use the other three gates. We fine those workers who use these gates for entrance or exit and if the worker repeats this mistake again then his services are terminated. The only reason behind this is that the owners of the garments factory or any other factories are worried and have to stop theft of material and finished products to avoid financial losses. We check all the workers of the factory when they arrived in the factory and when they leave they are checked again,” he said, adding that the goods are exported and a simple shirt or trouser piece cost $50. “If any person successfully passes one trouser out of the factory it will cause the owner a financial loss of approximately Rs 4,500,” he said.
Factory had four doors, only one was open!
