* Dozens injured as garment workers clash with police

* Factories, vehicles attacked on second day of protests

* Garment workers want raise from $43-a-month minimum wage

* Sector produces over 80 percent of $16 bln annual exports

By Nizam Ahmed
(Adds details, comments from ex-PM, manufacturers)

DHAKA, July 31 (Reuters) - At least 100 people were injured
when garment workers attacked factories and vehicles in
Bangladesh on Saturday in a second day of protests to demand
higher wages, police and witnesses said.

Police fired rubber bullets and used teargas and batons
against workers blocking roads in the capital Dhaka's suburbs.

This week the government set the minimum monthly wage to
3,000 taka ($43). Workers are demanding 5,000 taka.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made a plea for calm.

"Who will benefit if the (garment) industry is destroyed?
The workers should not involve themselves in any activity that
might put their own source of bread at risk," Hasina's press
secretary, Abul Kalam Azad, quoted her as saying.

The garment industry is Bangladesh's second biggest employer
after agriculture, and accounts for more than 80 percent of the
impoverished country's annual export earnings of $16 billion.

Saturday's protests started in Ashulia, an industrial area
30 km (19 miles) north of the capital.

"Several policemen were also injured, as they clashed with
workers, trying to dispel attacks on their vans," a local
newspaper reporter at the scene told Reuters.

The workers beat and seriously injured a cameraman working
for a local television channel when he tried to film them. They
also damaged and looted machines and ready-to-wear garments from
a number of factories, witnesses said.

Police have so far detained 25 people.

Protesters also blocked a road at Fatulla, 16 km east of
Dhaka, and more than 50 people were hurt in clashes with police.

BLAME

Protest leaders blamed police for sparking violence by
assaulting workers during peaceful rallies.

Begum Khaleda Zia, former prime minister and chief of the
main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, speaking at a
party meeting blamed "wrong government policies for the ongoing
anarchy in the garment sector".

Leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters
Association (BGMEA) demanded order be restored and threatened to
close down factories if vandalism continues.

"We will be compelled to close down factories if government
fails to give us protection," BGMEA vice president Faruque
Hassan told Reuters. He said criminals disguised as workers had
looted factories and wayside shops during the clashes.

BGMEA represents some 4,500 garment factories, that employ
more 3.5 million workers, mostly women.

Bangladesh-based factories make garments for international
brands such JC Penney, Wal-Mart, H&M, Kohl's, Marks & Spencer,
Zara and Carrefour.
(Editing by Louise Ireland)