Bangladeshi workers demand return to work after fire kills 112

Bangladeshi garment workers have demanded they be allowed to return to work after a factory fire that killed 112 of their colleagues.

Despite the tragedy, many of the workers are clamoring to return to work. The more than 1,200 workers have been protesting for over a week, saying that the work stoppage has caused them to lose essential wages.

The protesters have also demanded the arrest of the owner of Tazreen Fashions, where the blaze occurred, said AFP.

The factory has been closed for over a week and police guard the gates.

Protests flared all weekend after workers failed to receive payments, despite having been promised wages, said the Business Recorder.

More from GlobalPost: Deadly Bangladesh factory fire (PHOTOS)

"If the factory owner reopens the factory sometime soon, we will work again here," 19-year-old Dipa Akter, a worker in the factory, told the Associated Press.

"If it's closed for long, we have to think of alternatives."

GlobalPost previously wrote that three managers of the factory had been arrested for not allowing workers to escape the fire.

The managers apparently told the workers that the bells they were hearing were the sound of a routine fire drill. Some have said managers even padlocked the doors.

Garment work is an important part of the Bangladeshi economy and provides some of the highest-paying jobs in a country where it is estimated that a third of the population lives in extreme poverty.