Walmart ends ties to Bangladesh textile firm

Walmart, the US retailer, has admitted and ended its relationship with the unnamed supplier who sourced goods from the Bangladesh garment factory that saw 110 workers die in a blaze in the capital, Dhaka over the weekend.

The multinational company severed ties with its supplier as anger over safety standards in Bangladesh’s clothes manufacturing industry mounts.

The 12-storey building of the Tazreen factory that housed 1,000 employees, saw at least 110 textile workers with no emergency exits die in the blazing inferno on Saturday.

Bangladesh offers cheap labour to Western brands for manufacturing and has overlooked its duty of care to employees.

In a statement issued on Monday, Walmart expressed its condolences to the victims’ families and said: “The fact that this occurred is extremely troubling to us, and we will continue to work across the apparel industry to improve fire safety education and training in Bangladesh.

“A supplier subcontracted work to this factory without authorisation and in direct violation of our policies,

“The Tazreen factory was no longer authorised to produce merchandise for Walmart,

“Today, we have terminated the relationship with that supplier.”

European high street name C&A and the Hong Kong-based Li & Fung, which also procured orders at the nine-storey Tazreen factory, have expressed condolences.

Prominent fashion brands are likely to distance themselves from the scandal which could spell an imminent PR disaster.