One Dead İn Cambodian Garment Factory Fire

A massive blaze at a Chinese-owned garment factory Monday left one Chinese national dead and the factory completely destroyed in capital Phnom Penh, local media reported.



The fire at the Chang Sheng factory – the workplace of more than 900 employees - broke out early Monday morning, and was almost ravaged by the time fire trucks arrived an hour later, The Cambodia Daily reported.



"One Chinese man named Zya Shi Soung is dead," the paper "ed Neth Vantha, director of the municipal fire department, as saying.



The deceased had been a factory supervisor, Vantha said, adding: "He was found burned in front of the bathroom."



Garments are Cambodia's biggest export industry - worth $5.53 billion last year - with high street brands such as H&M, Nike and Adidas all supplied by Cambodian factories.



However, the industry was badly affected by mass industrial action the past year, when thousands of garment workers protested on the streets of the capital calling for a higher minimum wage of $160 a month. 



Five protesters were killed when police opened fire on a demonstration in January.



The industry has also been heavily criticized for making employees work overtime, underpaying their staff and leaving them in hazardous conditions.



Last year, three people were killed when a factory - later discovered to have been poorly constructed - collapsed.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Phnum Penh