Frantic search for survivors after Dhaka building collapse
A man trapped in the rubble of the collapsed building in Dhaka
A search for survivors is continuing at a building which collapsed in a suburb of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, killing at least 200 people.
Rescue workers are working with volunteers to free survivors still believed to be trapped inside.
Tens of thousands of weeping family members are gathered at the site.
Police said the factory owners had ignored warnings not to allow their workers into the building after cracks were noticed on Tuesday.
The factory owners are now said to have gone into hiding. Police say that cases have been filed against the building owner and the owners of the factories for causing unlawful death.
The exact number of those trapped is not clear, but accounts from survivors and eyewitnesses suggest there may be hundreds still unaccounted for.
The disaster has prompted questions over Bangladesh's chronically poor safety standards.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing cheap clothing for major Western retailers which benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has announced a national day of mourning on Thursday in memory of the victims.
Local media reported thousands of garment workers in other areas of Dhaka had taken to the streets and blocked roads to protest at the deaths of the workers in Savar.
'Like a pancake'
Some 2,000 people were in the Rana Plaza building in Savar, some 30km (20 miles) outside Dhaka, when it collapsed suddenly on Wednesday morning.
Firefighters and soldiers joined volunteers in the effort to locate survivors in the mangled wreckage of concrete and steel.
Rescue workers and volunteers have been using heavy machinery and their bare hands to free survivors.
Trapped workers can be heard inside the rubble, screaming for help. Food and water is being passed to survivors through gaps in the the rubble.
Lengths of textile that were earlier being cut into garments - many destined for Western consumers - were now being used as makeshift slides to evacuate survivors and corpses.
Mosammat Khursida told the Associated Press (AP) news agency she was looking for her husband.
"He came to work in the morning. I can't find him," she said. "I don't know where he is. He does not pick up his phone."
Lines of relatives filed by numbered bodies of victims, looking for their family members.
"Save us brother. I beg you brother. I want to live... It's so painful here ... I have two little children," Mohammad Altab, a garment worker trapped in the building told rescuers, according to AP.
Only the ground floor of the building remained intact, officials said.
"The whole building collapsed like a pancake within minutes. Most workers did not have any chance to escape," national fire department chief Ahmed Ali told AFP news agency.
Local hospitals were overwhelmed with the arrival of more than 1,000 injured people.
Bangladeshi factory worker: "In one minute everything collapsed"
Speaking at the scene, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir said the building had violated construction codes and "the culprits would be punished".
There are reports that the building owner had illegally added three extra stories to the building.
'Catch-22'
In November, a fire at a garment factory in the Dhaka suburb of Tazreen drew international attention to working conditions in Bangladesh's textile industry.
Primark, a clothes retailer with a large presence in Britain, confirmed that one of its suppliers was on the second floor of the Rana Plaza.
It said it was "shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling incident" and that it would work with other retailers to review standards.
Discount giant Wal-Mart - which was found to be sourcing products from the Tazreen factory - said it was still trying to establish whether its goods were being produced at the Rana Plaza.
"We remain committed and are actively engaged in promoting stronger safety measures, and that work continues,'' said Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Gardner.
A company called New Wave, with two factories in the building, supplies firms from around Europe, the US and Canada.
Read more: xclusivetalk.blogspot.com
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment