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A30 world news
Dialuna 6 Juni 2022

At least 49 dead in 2nd day of Bangladesh cargo depot fire

By JULHAS ALAM years. In the country’s mas-
Associated Press sive garment industry, which
DHAKA, Bangladesh employs about 4 million peo-
(AP) — A massive fire at ple, safety conditions have
a container depot near a improved significantly after
port city in southeastern massive reforms, but experts
Bangladesh killed at least say accidents could still occur
49 people, including nine if other sectors do not make
firefighters, and injured similar changes.
more than 100 others, of- In 2012, about 117 workers
ficials and local media re- died when they were trapped
ported Sunday, as efforts behind locked exits in a gar-
to extinguish the blaze ment factory in Dhaka.
continued into a second The country’s worst indus-
night. trial disaster occurred the fol-
lowing year, when the Rana
The inferno at the BM In- Plaza garment factory out-
land Container Depot, a side Dhaka collapsed, killing
Dutch-Bangladesh joint ven- more than 1,100 people.
ture, broke out around mid- In 2019, a blaze ripped
night Saturday following ex- through a 400-year-old area
plosions in a container full of cramped with apartments,
chemicals. The cause of the shops and warehouses in
fire could not be immediately the oldest part of Dhaka and
determined. The depot is killed at least 67 people. An-
located near country’s main Multiple rounds of explo- dia reports said. Bangladesh has a history of other fire in Old Dhaka in a
Chittagong Seaport, 216 kilo- sions occurred after the ini- The death toll reached 49 by industrial disasters, includ- house illegally storing chemi-
meters (134 miles) southeast tial blast as the fire continued Sunday evening, according to ing factories catching fire cals killed at least 123 people
of the capital, Dhaka. to spread, Uddin said. Ex- Ekattor TV station, and the with workers trapped inside. in 2010.
At least nine firefighters were plosives experts from Ban- area’s civil surgeon said the Monitoring groups have In 2021, a fire at a food and
among the dead, according gladesh’s military have been number could still rise as the blamed corruption and lax beverage factory outside
to Brig. Gen. Main Uddin, called in to assist the fire- fire raged for a second night. enforcement. Dhaka killed at least 52 peo-
director general of the Ban- fighters. The explosions shat- Prime Minister Sheikh Ha- Global brands, which employ ple, many of whom were
gladesh fire service and civil tered the windows of nearby sina expressed her shock at tens of thousands of low-paid trapped inside by an illegally
defense. More than 10 others buildings and were felt as far the accident and ordered ade- workers in Bangladesh, have locked door.q
were being treated for burns, as 4 kilometers (2 1/2 miles) quate arrangement for medi- come under fire to improve
he added. away, officials and local me- cal treatment of the injured. factory conditions in recent

Mediterranean nations criticize EU solidarity on migrants

By FRANCES D’EMILIO The Interior ministers from tion. “Solidarity is not a slo- ceive modest numbers of worst production season in
Associated Press Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Malta gan, nor can it be void of sub- some of the hundreds of more than a decade.
ROME (AP) — Five Eu- and Spain wrapped up two stance,” Nouris said. thousands of migrants res- Italian Interior Minister Lu-
ropean Union nations on days of talks in Venice amid Past EU policies in which cued from smugglers’ unsea- ciana Lamorgese cited the
the Mediterranean who worries that the blockade of member countries could of- worthy boats, didn’t follow blocking of grain in Ukraine
fear possible waves of ref- Ukraine grain exports due to fer to receive some of the through. as just another reason for the
ugees driven by hunger Russia’s invasion could see hundreds of thousands of “Solidarity in our mind can- EU to develop a “adequate
out of Africa called Satur- huge numbers of refugees migrants landing in Italy, not be voluntary,’’ Nouris mechanism of distributing
day for an end to the EU’s from Africa flooding south- Greece and other southern said. migrants” among its mem-
“voluntary” solidarity on ern Europe. shores proved grossly inad- He noted that after several bers.
migrants and a better way Cypriot Interior Minister equate. years of Cyprus taking in mi- She also pressed for more
to redistribute the burden Nicos Nouris told report- Many EU countries didn’t grants, now 5% of the eastern repatriation agreements with
of caring for them. ers that robust, common EU step forward. Others, even Mediterranean island na- countries whose people are
policy is needed on migra- with they did pledge to re- tion’s population consists of seeking a better life in Europe
asylum-seekers. but had their asylum bids re-
The meeting did not address jected since they are fleeing
the millions of Ukrainian poverty, not war or persecu-
refugees who recently flood- tion.
ed into northern EU nations Italy has an effective repatria-
like Poland, Hungary and tion agreement with Tuni-
Romania. sia, but not with most other
How Europe handles large countries in Africa or in Asia
numbers of migrants takes on whose citizens take to smug-
particular urgency now, amid glers’ boats to try to reach
fears that drought in Africa southern European shores.
and surging food prices even As a result, even though
before the war made shipping their asylum applications fail,
Ukrainian grain to Somalia, many migrants remain in Ita-
Egypt and other poor nations ly, often taking illegal jobs or
impossible could drive up the resorting to begging.
already alarmingly numbers Greece’s interior minister ex-
of hungry people. pressed support for more le-
In the Sahel, the part of Afri- gal paths for migration.
ca just below the Sahara des- “We cannot let smugglers
ert, an estimated 18 million decide who comes to live in
people are facing severe hun- Europe,’’ minister Notis Mi-
ger as farmers endure their tarachi told reporters.q