The large waste bins have been removed from the five-foot-wide staircase of the eightstory building but the stairs remained as dirty as ever. Only on July 30 the building at Mirpur Section-1 became the focal point as 26 garments factory workers met their tragic end in a stampede when they desperately tried to escape down the narrow staircase fearing a fire-

On the ground floor of the 3.500-square-foot Tamanna Fabrics, more than 140 young male and female workers sat in -front of their machines. Large piles of different fabrics were stacked beside every machine restricting movement of the workers. The only exit of the facility that led to the staircase was a collapsible — and locked

— gate manned by two uniformed guards.

'There are more workers here than we are permitted in our layout plan,' admitted Nazrul Islam, an official at the factory. In the extreme corner of the room electric wires tangled overhead. Few workers sat amidst loads of highly inflammable garments materials beside the main electric switch covered with layers of dirt. Naked wires bulged out dangerously from the stuffy board.

"Is there any other way than to run when a fire breaks out here?" asked Shumi, sitting a foot away from the switch board.

On the second floor, workers from Jahanara Garments were still mourning the deaths of

their colleagues. With 15 female workers dead in the July 30 incident. it had the largest casualty in the building.

The floor was devoid of workers but few officials sat there gossiping. In the corner, the electric board was covered with dirt. Some fuses were half open, apparently to disconnect some areas. As this coirespon- -dent tried to push those fuses in their sockets, instant sparks were seen. The overhead wiring network In a wooden channel was covered in a thick layer of dust. The joints of the wiring were bound with tape in an amateurish way. The only exit from the floor was narrowed because the owners had raised a wall near It to prevent outsiders from looking Inside.

At Shanghai Apparels on the fourth floor, where Wednesday's incident first originated, a few hundred workers gathered for a tnilad. A worker there showed - ‘The whe that sparked and triggered a panic among the 2.5(X) workers in the building who all rushed together towards the narrow exit fearing a fire.

The five-foot long wire of a heavy sewing machine connected the electric line. As the wire got trapped under the heavy machine, It was damaged and a naked wire bulged out unnoticed. leading to a short-circuit. The female worker who was working at the machine when the accident occurred, said the management have replaced the wire.

But the new wire was also damaged through the same process Several other wires also bore the same marks of damage.

On the sixth and seventh floors Tamanna Rabbani Garments was the only facility in the building to have a 'fire exit' which the officials said saved lives on the fateful day.

The fire exit is a big opening in the wall closed by a collapsible gate. It led to the adjacent building some thirty feet below its level. An official said, "we use bamboo ladders in case of an emergency." The ladders were kept tied to the wall of the factory.

Otherwise, the factory looked identical to the other factories in the building. The official said the wiring of their facility was approved by the government department concerned.

This correspondent also visited other garments factories in the area. They are Top Stitch at Second Colony. Standard Garments on Mazar Road and York Fashions Ltd and also found them to be fire hazards.