Bangladesh Factory Inferno Witness: Managers Ignored Fire

Source: abcnews.go.com

An eyewitness to this week's deadly garment factory fire in Bangladesh, which killed 112 workers, claimed that managers lowered gates to prevent employees from leaving because they thought it was a false alarm.

"Our production manager ... pulled down the collapsible gate on the third floor, forcing us to continue working," the witness said, according to an account of the Tazreen Factory fire shared with ABC News Tuesday night by Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights.

"We pleaded with him to let us out, but (he) assured us that nothing was wrong and we should keep working," the witness said. "He told us not to listen to any rumors. He said again, 'Nothing has happened, just keep working.'"

An official with the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, a group that has been highly critical of the garment industry and has lobbied for safety improvements, said they were withholding the witness's name to protect him from reprisals.

Read more: abcnews.go.com/Blotter/bangladesh-factory-inferno-witness-managers-fire/story?id=17826499#.ULZo8IY8B8F