BANGLADESH: Bangladesh factory workers worry about workplace safety, as relatives of people killed in a building collapse wait to reclaim their missing loved ones

Record ID: 216386

  • Title: BANGLADESH: Bangladesh factory workers worry about workplace safety, as relatives of people killed in a building collapse wait to reclaim their missing loved ones
  • Date: 4th May 2013
  • Summary: DHAKA,BANGLADESH (MAY 04,2013) ( REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WORKERS GOING INTO GARMENT FACTORY (SOUNDBITE) (Bengali) FARIDA PARVEEN, GARMENT WORKER SAYING: "After this accident we are very scared and worried about such an accident happening at our factory. We have demanded that the government take action and examine all factories so that we can all work in a good environment. An
  • Embargoed: 19th May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bangladesh
  • Country: Bangladesh
  • Topics: Disasters,Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVAAVUI7K7NFPUWTA06OZYS33XOZ
  • Story Text: With the death toll from Bangladesh's worst industrial accident topping 500, workers at neighbouring factories on Saturday (May 4) worried about their own workplace safety as bereaved family members waited to reclaim their loved ones killed in the garment factory complex that collapsed.
    "After this accident we are very scared and worried about such an accident happening at our factory. We have demanded that the government take action and examine all factories so that we can all work in a good environment. And, our salary is low. Some get 4000 taka ($50), some get 4,300 taka per month so we need an increase so that we can live comfortably with our father and mother," said garment factory worker Farida Parveen.
    Heavy machinery hacked away the concrete and rubble of the collapsed building as soldiers and volunteers picked through the debris recovering more bodies.
    Tearful family members stood around rows of body bags containing the remains of the workers as volunteers unzipped the bags for identification.
    "The bodies that are coming now cannot be identified. The clothes the victims were wearing are also damaged, the faces are decomposed. For such cases, we were advised (by the government) to send the bodies to Dhaka Medical Collage Hospital for DNA testing. From there the relatives can claim the bodies," said Masum, a scout member assisting in the identification.
    Mohammad Sujan said he was able to identify his wife by her clothes.
    "My wife and I were working together as operators in Rana Plaza. After the accident, I was rescued on the fourth day and in hospital. I have been looking for my wife and after 11 days I found the body of my wife. I could recognize her by her clothes, they are giving me her body but they need to investigate more," he said.
    Police investigating the collapse of the factory complex are now holding nine people over the April 24 disaster, which has put the spotlight on the many Western clothing retailers who use Bangladesh as a source of cheap goods.
    An engineer, who warned the eight-storey complex was unsafe, is the latest person to be arrested in connection with the collapse.
    Adbur Razzak had been called to Rana Plaza in Savar, 30km (20 miles) north of the capital, by its owner when cracks appeared in concrete pillars the day before the accident.
    Police said he had been arrested because he had been involved in the original construction of the building.
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