Qualla: 2012 Dhaka Garment Factory Fire

2012 Dhaka Garment Factory Fire: Introduction

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Blackbird913, CC BY-SA 3.0. "The fire alarm had just gone out of order. Go back to work." Those were the words Mohammad Ripu heard from his factory manager on the night of November 24, 2012, moments before the Tazreen Fashion factory in Ashulia erupted in flames. Ripu survived by jumping from the second floor. At least 117 of his coworkers did not survive at all. The fire at this nine-story garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka became the deadliest industrial blaze in Bangladesh's history, and it would force the world to confront an uncomfortable question: what is the true cost of a cheap T-shirt?

Image: Blackbird913 | CC BY-SA 3.0

2012 Dhaka Garment Factory Fire: Stitched into the Supply Chain

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Blackbird913, CC BY-SA 3.0. When it opened in 2009, Tazreen Fashion employed 1,630 workers producing T-shirts, polo shirts, and jackets for some of the world's largest brands. The client list included the US Marines, Dutch retailer C&A, Hong Kong-based Li & Fung, and the American retail giant Walmart. Bangl...

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2012 Dhaka Garment Factory Fire: Flames on the Ground Floor

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Blackbird913, CC BY-SA 3.0. The fire started on the ground floor, likely sparked by exposed wiring, and raced upward through the nine-story building. Workers on upper floors found themselves trapped. The factory lacked adequate emergency exits, a deficiency that fire department operations manager Mohammad M...

Image: Blackbird913 | CC BY-SA 3.0

2012 Dhaka Garment Factory Fire: Accountability on Trial

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Blackbird913, CC BY-SA 3.0. In the aftermath, Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed shock and declared November 27 a national day of mourning, with flags flown at half-mast. Yet the government's own investigation drew criticism when it concluded the fire was an act of "sabotage" without identi...

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2012 Dhaka Garment Factory Fire: The Price of a Dollar Shirt

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Blackbird913, CC BY-SA 3.0. Garment workers poured into the streets of Ashulia in protest, blocking a major highway for three days. Two hundred factories shut their doors in solidarity. When companies whose clothing had been manufactured at Tazreen gathered in Geneva in May 2013 to discuss victim compensati...

Image: Blackbird913 | CC BY-SA 3.0

2012 Dhaka Garment Factory Fire: What the Ashes Revealed

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Blackbird913, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Tazreen fire exposed a system in which the relentless pressure to cut costs had made worker safety an afterthought. The factory's fire certification had expired. Emergency exits were padlocked. Alarms were dismissed as malfunctions. These were not isolated failures but sympto...

Image: Blackbird913 | CC BY-SA 3.0