Primark to compensate workers in Bangladesh factory disaster

LONDON - British discount fashion retailer Primark, which had a supplier based in a clothing factory in Bangladesh which collapsed last week, is to pay compensation to workers who were making its clothes.

Primark, owned by FTSE 100 company Associated British Foods (ABF.L), said on Monday that it was working with a local NGO to help victims of the disaster which killed nearly 400 people.

The collapse acted as a stark reminder of the risks involved with the global retail industry's search for cheap production.

NGOs have blamed major western clothing retailers for squeezing Asian suppliers, fuelling the conditions for tragedies like the factory collapse, and compounding concerns about worker safety and low wages in Bangladesh.

"Primark will pay compensation to the victims of this disaster who worked for its supplier," said the company, whose supplier operated on the second floor of the building.

"This will include the provision of long-term aid for children who have lost parents, financial aid for those injured and payments to the families of the deceased."

The disaster follows a November fire at the Tazreen Fashion factory on the outskirts of Dhaka that killed 112 people.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by David Cowell)