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Protests mark the first anniversary of the Bangladesh clothing factory tragedy

Protesters in Berlin gathered outside Benetton to mark the first anniversary of the world’s worst textile factory disaster in Bangladesh. It is one of several retailers who have to date not donated any money into a communal fund to support victims of the tragedy. The clothing giant which stopped sourcing from the factory some months before it collapsed has paid into a separate scheme. “It’s a myth that it concerns only cheap clothes. Here you can see Mango and Benetton, C&A and Adler, these are not discount stores. All of them had products made in Rana Plaza,” explained Frauke Banse of the “Clean Clothes Campaign”. Thursday has been nominated “Fashion Revolution Day”. Organisers want better connections and transparency in the fashion supply chain and have called on people to wear their clothes inside out to show the label. The eight-storey Rana Plaza factory believed to have been constructed illegally collapsed killing over 1,100 people. An independent panel recommended victims and their families should receive more than 13,000 euros. But a year later, many say they are still waiting to receive a full payout.