SAVAR, Bangladesh (CBS) -- Three supervisors of a Bangladeshi garments factory were arrested on Wednesday as protests over a fire that killed more than 100 people raged on into a third day, with textile workers and police clashing in the streets of a Dhaka suburb.
The government has blamed last weekend's disaster, the country's worst-ever industrial blaze, on saboteurs and police said they had arrested two people who were seen on CCTV footage trying to set fire to stockpiles of cotton in another factory.
Thousands of workers poured out onto the roads, blocking traffic, as the authorities closed most of the 300 garment factories in the area. They were driven back by riot police wielding tear gas and batons.
Witnesses said that at least 20 people were injured in the capital's industrial suburb of Ashulia as police pushed back furious protesters demanding safer factories and punishment for those responsible for the blaze.
Three employees of Tazreen Fashions - an administrative officer, a stores manager and a security supervisor - were arrested.
Police told Reuters they would be investigated for suspected negligence.
Officers said they were investigating complaints from some survivors that factory managers stopped workers from running out of the multi-storey building when a fire alarm went off.
The fire at Tazreen Fashions has put a spotlight on global retailers that source clothes from Bangladesh, where wage costs are low - as little as 37 U.S. dollars a month for some workers.
Rights groups have called on Western firms to sign up to a safety programme in the world's second-biggest clothes exporter.
Bangladesh has about 4,500 garment factories and is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China, with garments making up 80 percent of its $24 billion annual exports.
Working conditions at Bangladeshi factories are notoriously poor, with little enforcement of safety laws. Overcrowding and locked fire doors are common.