[6][7] When it opened in 2009, the Tazreen Fashion factory employed 1,630 workers and produced T-shirts, polo shirts and jackets for various companies and organizations.

[8][11] The factory is part of the Tuba Group which is a major exporter of garments from Bangladesh to the U.S., Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

[12] According to Tazreen Fashions' web site, the factory was flagged in May 2011 with an "orange" grade by a Walmart ethical sourcing official for "violations and/or conditions which were deemed to be high risk".

[14] According to The New York Times, Walmart played a significant role in blocking reforms to have retailers pay more for apparel in order to help Bangladesh factories improve their safety standards.

[3] Because of the large amount of fabric and yarn in the factory, the fire was able to quickly spread to other floors, complicating firefighting operations.

[17] A crowd made up of thousands of relatives and onlookers gathered at the scene, causing Bangladesh Army soldiers to be deployed to maintain order.

[24] The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association offered compensation of $1,250 to each of the dead victim's families, which is approximately two years' pay for the average factory worker.

This is the first time we have ever had a fire at one of my seven factories"[11] In addition, the government declared 27 November 2012 a national day of mourning with the country flag flying at half-mast to honor the victims.

[25] Scott Nova, executive director of Worker Rights Consortium, said the donation is too little to make the industry safe, particularly because many factories do not even have basic safety features such as fire escapes.

[26] On 15 May 2013, companies whose clothing was manufactured at the Tazreen Design Ltd. factory met in Geneva to discuss compensation payments for the victims of the fire; Walmart and Sears declined to send representatives to the meeting for unknown reasons.

[17] The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association announced plans to expel 850 factories from its membership due to noncompliance with safety and labor standards.

[30] On 24 April 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-story building in the suburb of Savar which housed multiple clothing manufacturing companies along with a bank and some apartments, collapsed killing over 1,100 workers and injuring 2,000 more.

After the accident, the owner of the building was arrested for not possessing adequate safety permits when constructing Rana Plaza, and the clothing factory managers were detained for making their employees come to work in an unsafe environment.