3 detained in Bangladesh factory fire

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ASHULIA, Bangladesh, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Police have detained three mid-level managers they say may have locked doors to a Bangladesh garment factory during a fire that killed at least 112 people.

The Wall Street Journal said the three men were mid-level managers at Tazreen Fashions Ltd. The news site BDNews24.com identified the men as Tazreen's administrative officer Dulal Uddin, store in-charge Hamidul Islam Lavlu and security in-charge Al Amin.

The Journal said the three men are suspected of locking doors to the factory so workers could not escape though they have not been formally charged.

The mass deaths have sparked outrage in Bangladesh, the world's second-leading garment producer behind China.

Some 100,000 garment district workers took to the streets in Ashulia, the industrial suburb Dahka where Tazreen Fashions was located. Protesters clogged streets and threw stones but no major violence was reported, police said.

The Journal said local workers' advocates charge at least 500 people have died in recent years in factory fires and other incidents because profit-hungry owners refuse to implement changes to make their factories safer for employees.

Tazreen made clothes for the Walmart line Faded Glory and Enyce, the brand founded by rapper Sean Combs. Walmart has said it instructed the distributor who subcontracted with Tazreen not to use the factory due to safety concerns and was unaware the factory was still being used, The Journal said.