The survivers of the Tazreen Fashions fire in Ashulia are facing an uncertain future, a number of them with disabilities inflicted by the incident, and many remaining jobless one year after the tragedy.
Many of the survivors are passing days in extreme hardship nursing their wounds or struggling to recover from the trauma they suffered, New Age found a visit to the burnt-out factory building and its surroundings at Nishchintapur in Ashulia.
At least 112 apparel workers lost their lives and several thousand sustained injuries, many of them maimed, in the deadly fire that ravaged the factory on November 24, 2012.
Garment Sramik Kalyan Oikya Parishad’s Ashulia unit vice-president Khorshed Alam told New Age that most of the survivors had found no job after the blaze. Particularly the workers who are still nursing wounds or have been left maimed by the fire are surviving precariously with no income and no one to help them.
Some of the survivors told New Age that they were still struggling to recover from the trauma of the horror. Some said the traumatic experiences of the blaze have held them back from joining any other factory for job.
‘In clinical psychology, such experiences reflect a very critical condition of someone’s mental health, which is called “post-traumatic stress disorder”,‘ said Dhaka University clinical psychology teacher Kamal UA Chowdhury.
Ramesa Begum, who was working on the third floor of the factory when the fire engulfed the building, told New Age, ‘I had tried my best to return to work and a few months after the fire had joined another factory. But, I could not continue with the job as the frightening memories still haunts me.’
She also said she even did not dare to move alone in the night after the incident.
Laili Akhter, 25, worked at the sewing unit of the factory. ‘I even get frightened if I happen to pass by a garment
factory as it reminds me of that fateful night,’ she said.
Many others also came up with the similar expressions.
Anisa, 30, said that she had been suffering from poor eyesight due to excessive tearing since the incident. She was also nursing a broken spinal cord and right arm.
‘I broke my spinal cord and right arm when I jumped off the second floor of the factory after the fire broke out,’ she said.
Neither the BGMEA nor any other organisation offered her a single penny for her treatment. ‘I am unable to bear the expenses of my treatment… The pains are now causing problems even in my household work,’ she said.
Some of the survivors were even suffering kidney and lungs problems.
‘I have been suffering from kidney complexities and could not remain standing for more than five minute’ said Lipi, a survivor.
‘I remained trapped in a room filled with fumes for about an hour which might have caused the lungs problems,’ she added.
Besides, the factory fire also ruined some children’s educational life.
Anisa told New Age that she was forced to discontinue the education of their two daughters as she became jobless after the incident and her husband being a poor man. Hena Akhter, another worker, said she had to send her two sons to an orphanage in Sirajganj as she was now unemployed and was abandoned by her husband.
-With New Age input
