German firm to compensate factory fire victims

A German discount clothing retailer has agreed to pay more than $1.2mn compensation for victims of a Pakistan factory fire, a union leader said yesterday. The blaze in September at the Ali Enterprises factory in Karachi, which made ready-to-wear garments for Western stores, killed 289 workers and injured 110 more. German news magazine Der Spiegel reported in its online edition on Tuesday that the Kik chain, which the factory supplied with jeans, had agreed to pay a total of $500,000 compensation — less than $2,000 for every life lost. Kik agreed to compensate the victims and their families only after activists presented them with evidence.