DHAKA: Bangladeshi police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of garment workers on Monday as they demanded a wage hike at a protest in a manufacturing hub outside the capital Dhaka.

Police said they reacted after workers blocked a key highway in the Ashulia industrial area, home to hundreds of factories which make clothing for western retailers such as Walmart.

Factories in the hub only reopened last week following unrest sparked by the country's worst industrial tragedy, which killed more than 1,100 people.

“They were demanding higher wages. We fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse them after they became violent and occupied a road,” Ashulia police chief Badrul Alam said, saying that some of the protesters had hurled stones at police and attacked vehicles.

Alam said about 20,000 workers took part in the protest, but the area head of industrial police, Mustafizur Rahman, put the number at around 12,000.—AFP