BANGLADESH: Prime Minister Sheik Hasina visits Bangladesh building collapse site

Record ID: 216375

  • Title: BANGLADESH: Prime Minister Sheik Hasina visits Bangladesh building collapse site
  • Date: 29th April 2013
  • Summary: SAVAR, DHAKA, BANGLADESH (APRIL 29, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMY ENGINEERING CORE WAITING OUTSIDE THE COLLAPSED BUILDING CRANE TO REMOVE SLABS OF CONCRETE ARMY ENGINEERS TALKING PRIME MINISTER SHEIKH HASINA ARRIVING AT THE SITE VARIOUS OF PRIME MINISTER SHEIKH HASINA TALKING WITH ARMY ENGINEERS AND EXPERTS ARMY SOLDIERS STANDING GUARD WOMAN WEEPING, SHOWI
  • Embargoed: 14th May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bangladesh
  • Country: Bangladesh
  • Topics: Disasters,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADFN0RLUCSRRPO3NUG6I1SD8UC
  • Story Text: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visits the site of the collapsed building in Dhaka.


    Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited the site of the collapsed Dhaka building on Monday (April 29).
    By Sunday (April 28), the death toll had climbed to at least 377, while four people were pulled out alive after almost 100 hours beneath the mound of broken concrete and metal.
    Rescuers on Sunday were working frantically to try to save several others still trapped, fire services deputy director Mizanur Rahman said.
    One woman was pulled out of debris by rescuers but died, fire service officials said.
    But hope for finding any more survivors under the rubble was fading on Monday, and with more than 900 people still counted as missing fears were growing that the number of dead could rise far beyond the latest figure of 377.
    Army officers were waiting at the site for Hasina when she arrived on Monday amid tight security.
    Relatives of victims continue to camp out around the site holding photographs of their missing loved-ones.
    "I have lost my daughter. Since she is gone, how will our family live? She was the only one who was earning for the family. Her father has gone mad, after hearing the news," said Hajrea Begum, whose daughter was missing.
    "I was on the third floor. After the accident I was inside the building for three days unconscious, lying on the floor. Then I was rescued and taken to a hospital. When I came round, I saw my mother was missing. My mother was working inside along with me in the factory. My mother is lost. If I don't see she is alive, at least I need her body. I still hope to get my mother back. I had hopes of sleeping on her lap, but she is missing," said Sonali, a survivor of the collapse whose mother is still missing.
    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 spongy ground without the correct permits, and more than 3,000 workers - mainly young women - entered the building on Wednesday morning (April 24) despite warnings that it was structurally unsafe.
    Police said one factory owner gave himself up following the detention of two plant bosses and two engineers the day before.
    The owner of the Bangladesh factory building was arrested on Sunday attempting to flee to India, police said.
    Mohammed Sohel Rana, a leader of the ruling Awami League's youth front, was arrested by the elite Rapid Action Battalion in the Bangladesh border town of Benapole, Dhaka District Police Chief Habibur Rahman told Reuters.
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