Firefighters in Bangladesh fought a large blaze for hours at a factory outside the capital on Saturday night.

Authorities say that the large fire was started on the ground floor of a garment factory, quickly spreading throughout the structure. At least 120 people perished in the blaze, most of those who died were women.

Some of the garment workers at the factory jumped to their death from windows of the eight story structure in an attempt to escape the flames before firefighters arrived on the scene.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire that they say is the deadliest in that country’s apparel industry to date. There are more than 4,000 garment factories in Bangladesh.

Workers at the factory say that the fire exits in the building were blocked.

The low pay and unsafe working conditions in the country’s garment factories has drawn criticism from human rights groups. The country is the largest exporter of clothing in Asia next to China. Two years ago, Bangladesh raised the minimum wage 80%, it is now about $38 a month for the 2.2 million workers in the industry.