The Bangladeshi building that collapsed on Wednesday killing at least 87 people housed a garment factory that claims to supply a number of UK high street fashion retailers, according to reports.
The eight-storey building, Rana Plaza, came crashing down in the early morning rush hour in Saver just outside the capital Dhaka.
Hundreds of people are thought to still be trapped under the rubble.
Government officials have said the building was an illegal build
Cracks in the building had been reported the day before the collapse but managers had forced workers to return.
The FT reports two affiliated factories, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms, operated out of the complex.
Their website suggests the company supplies a number of high street brands including Primark, Benetton and Monsoon.
A spokesperson for Benetton denied reports of a link to the company: “In reference to the tragic news on the collapse of the building in Bangladesh, Benetton Group wants to clarify that the factories involved are not suppliers to Benetton or any of its brands.”
A spokesperson for Monsoon said: “Monsoon Accessorize operates a robust filtering system which allows us to carefully identify and select the partners and factories that we work with.
“We can confirm that we have never placed any business with New Wave Style. We currently are not sourcing any product from Bangladesh.”
Safety in Bangladesh has a poor track record.
Last year a fire in another garment factory killed at least 117 people.
Despite the dubious safety record in the region many Western companies continue to use Bangladeshi suppliers.
The country’s garment industry is second only in size to China’s, yet Bangladeshi workers are the lowest paid in the world.
Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/24/bangladesh-building-collapse_n_3147634.html