BANGLADESH: Rescuers say they are unlikely to find more survivors in rubble of collapsed building in Savar

Record ID: 216372

  • Title: BANGLADESH: Rescuers say they are unlikely to find more survivors in rubble of collapsed building in Savar
  • Date: 29th April 2013
  • Summary: SAVAR, DHAKA, BANGLADESH (APRIL 29,2013) (REUTERS) CRANES AT COLLAPSED BUILDING ARMY SOLDIER STOPPING MOTHER OF A VICTIM GOING NEAR THE BUILDING VARIOUS OF CRANES CARRYING SLABS OF CONCRETE DIGGER BREAKING SLABS SLAB BEING PUT INTO BACK OF TRUCK DIGGER VARIOUS OF CRANE MOVING SLAB MEMBERS OF ARMY ENGINEERING CORE JOINING RESCUE OPERATION CRANES (SOUNDBITE) (Bengali) SHAM
  • Embargoed: 14th May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bangladesh
  • Country: Bangladesh
  • Topics: Disasters
  • Reuters ID: LVAE5X2R3UDDYC680F4ZZJ6QF2VN
  • Story Text: Rescue officials said on Monday (April 29) they were unlikely to find any more survivors in the rubble of the building that collapsed last week, burying hundreds of garment workers in the country's worst industrial accident.
    Heavy cranes were being used to lift huge concrete blocks from the wreckage of Rana Plaza, where 385 people are now confirmed to have been killed. The building housed factories making clothes for Western brands.
    "The first phase of the operation is over and now the second phase has started. You have seen those who were responsible for this accident, we have arrested one after the other, and also the owner of the 'Rana Plaza' building. Rana was arrested yesterday from Benapole," said Junior Interior Minister Shamsul Hoq Tuku.
    Earlier on Monday the owner of the building was led into court dressed in a helmet and bullet-proof jacket.
    Eight people have been arrested over the incident: four factory bosses, two engineers, building owner Mohammed Sohel Rana and his father, Abdul Khalek. Police are looking for a fifth factory boss, David Mayor, who they said was a Spanish citizen.
    Hundreds of the mostly female workers who are thought to have been inside the building when it caved in, remain unaccounted for. A fire overnight further hampered the last desperate efforts to find survivors.
    About 2,500 people have been rescued from the wrecked building in the commercial suburb of Savar, about 30 km (20 miles) from the capital, Dhaka.
    Officials said the eight-storey complex had been built on swampy ground without the correct permits, and more than 3,000 workers - most of them young women - entered the building on Wednesday morning despite warnings that it was structurally unsafe.
    Relatives of the victims held vigil close to the site, with many weeping and holding pictures of their loved-ones.
    The collapse was the third major industrial incident in five months in Bangladesh, the second-largest exporter of garments in the world behind China. In November, a fire at the Tazreen Fashion factory in a suburb of Dhaka killed 112 people.
    Such incidents have raised serious questions about worker safety and low wages in the poor South Asian country, which relies on garments for 80 percent of its exports. The industry employs about 3.6 million people, most of them women, some of whom earn as little as 38 USD a month.
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