450 garment factory workers fall ill in Bangladesh

A doctor says about 450 garment workers fell ill during their shifts at a factory near Bangladesh's capital and the building's water supply may have been contaminated.450 garment factory workers fall ill in Bangladesh

A doctor says about 450 garment workers fell ill during their shifts at a factory near Bangladesh's capital and the building's water supply may have been contaminated.

The area's civil surgeon Syed Habibullah said investigators from the government's health ministry were testing the water Thursday. The Starlight Sweater Factory gets its water from an underground reservoir.

The factory employs about 6,000 people in Gazipur near Dhaka.

Habibullah said the sick workers suffered from vomiting and nausea starting about two hours into their shifts Wednesday. They were given mainly saline at hospitals and those who were improving left by Thursday.

The factory was shut down Wednesday.

A building collapse near Dhaka last month killed 1,129 workers, injured others and highlighted the hazardous working conditions in thousands of garment factories in Bangladesh.