Hundreds fall sick in Bangladesh garment factory

Hundreds of employees of a Bangladeshi garment plant near the capital fell ill Wednesday after drinking suspected contaminated water at work, police and factory officials said. The incident follows the collapse of a building housing five garment factories in April that killed 1,129 people and triggered renewed scrutiny of "made-in-Bangladesh" clothes commonly sold in the West.
"Primarily we suspect the water supply of the Starlight Sweaters factory was poisoned or contaminated," local industrial police officer Mahfuzur Rahman told AFP from Gazipur, a suburb of Dhaka. B. Ali, the administrative officer of the factory, told AFP the number of affected workers could be as high as 600.
"The workers have been sent to different hospitals after they reported stomach pain and started vomiting. We estimate the number could be up to 600," he said. Late Wednesday, hospital officials said all the sick workers were out of danger. Officials said the workers were engaged in making garments for big-name Western labels but did not immediately identify the brands.