Hundreds fall sick in Bangladesh garment factory

Hundreds of workers at a Bangladesh garment factory near the capital were hospitalised today with acute stomach disorder after drinking suspected contaminated water, in the latest industrial accident to hit the country.
The workers of Starlight Sweaters in Gazipur, a suburb of Dhaka, complained of upset stomach and vomiting tendency after drinking contaminated water of the factory.
"It seems this is sabotage. Someone might have mixed the poison in water," Gazipur Additional Police Superintendent Mostafizur Rahman was quoted as saying by the bdnews24.Com.
Sample of water has been taken to laboratory for tests, he said, adding police have been deployed around the factory.

The number of sick workers might be around 400, local industrial police official Mosharraf Hossain said.
"The garment authorities sent them to Gazipur Sadar Hospital, Tongi Hospital and other local private clinics when the workers started vomiting," the police official said.

Many workers have become weak due to constant vomiting and some of them have been suffering from acute stomach-pain, said Tapan Kanti Sarkar, local medical officer said.
District Civil Surgeon Syed Habibullah confirmed the factory's water supply as the source of the problem.
A team has been sent to the factory to investigate the cause, he said.
The incident came after the country's worst building disaster in April when a eight-storeyed building housing five garment factories collapsed, killing 1,129 people.