300 RMG workers hospitalised in Gazipur

Over 300 workers of a readymade garment unit were hospitalised in Gazipur on Wednesday.

Doctors blamed the poisoning on the factory’s water supply.

Police said they were looking for traces of ‘poison’ in the water tank of the ‘Starlight Sweater’ factory, where the workers started to fall sick since they joined work in the morning.

Gazipur Additional Police Superintendent Mostafizur Rahman suspected ‘sabotage’ behind the incident.

“It seems this is sabotage. Someone might have mixed the poison in water,” he told bdnews24.com.

Sample of water has been taken to laboratory for tests, he said. “Police have been deployed around the factory.”

District Civil Surgeon Syed Habibullah confirmed the factory's water supply as the source of the problem. A team has been sent to the factory to investigate the cause, he said.

Industrial Police Sub Inspector Mohammad Selim told bdnews24.com that workers of Labib Group ‘Starlight Sweaters’, located in Bhogra area, began falling sick about two hours after starting work at 8:00am.

“At one point many were complaining of stomach pain and vomiting. Then management sent them to Gazipur Sadar Hospital, Tongi Hospital and nearby clinics. In all, some 200 workers have been hospitalised,” Selim said.

More than 300 workers have been taken ill so far. Two hundred of them are been treated at the Sadar Hospital.

Sadar Hospital Resident Medical Officer (RMO) Tapan Kanti Sarkar told bdnews24.com many workers appeared weak due to constant vomiting. “Some were also having acute stomach ache.”