An enraged mob of some 400 Bangladeshi workers on yesterday attacked two managers who came to inspect living conditions at a Malaysian-owned textile plant near Namibia's capital of Windhoek.

The two Bangladeshi men had to be whisked away by armed police after they arrived at a house in the Windhoek West suburb were they were assaulted as they got out of their car, an AFP correspondent saw.

One of the managers of the Bangladeshi employment agency who arrived in the southern African country earlier in the day was taken to hospital for stitches although the exact nature of his injury was unknown.

The workers claim they are housed under appalling conditions, having to share one toilet between them, and use outside taps to wash because there were no other proper facilities.

Unfair deductions

They arrived from Bangladesh last month to work in a plant owned by Malaysian textile giant Ramatex and said they were promised accommodation, food and a monthly salary of US$120 dollars (RM456).

But workers claimed US$45 (RM171) of their salary were being docked to buy food.

"The conditions of the Bangladeshi workers are much worse than those of black workers in Namibia during the apartheid era," said Alpheus Muheua, vice president of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW), the country's umbrella labour federation.

Muheua said the NUNW was trying to negotiate a solution, but it has threatened nationwide action if conditions for the Bangladeshis did not improve.

The two managers could not be reached for comment.