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(Photo: timeslive.co.za)
(Photo: dailystar.com.lb)
(Photo: bellinghamherald.com)
(Photo: Mithun Chakma/timesworld24.com)
An eight-storey block housing garment factories and a shopping center collapsed on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital on Wednesday, killing at least 25 people (Sky News states 82 killed, local media reports 100 killed) and injuring more than 500.(Sky News states 700 injured)
Fire fighters and army personnel were working at the Rana Plaza building in Savar, 30 km (19 miles) outside Dhaka, to rescue people who were trapped inside, Mohammad Asaduzzaman, officer in charge of the areas police station said. He said factory owners appeared to have ignored a warning not to allow workers into the building after a crack was detected in the block the previous day. Bangladeshs booming garment industry has been plagued by fires and other accidents for years. In November last year, 112 workers were killed in a blaze at a factory in an industrial suburb of Dhaka.
Wednesday, 24 April, 2013 at 06:20 (06:20 AM) UTC RSOE
Bangladesh: Dozens Dead After Building Fall
(Video credit: PlayVideoChannel)
SKY NEWS 10:12am (BST) UK, Wednesday 24 April 2013
Emergency services near Bangladeshi capital Dhaka search for up to 1,000 people trapped after a building collapses.
It is thought some 2,000 people were in the building when it collapsed.
At least 82 people have died after an eight-storey building collapsed on the outskirts of Bangladeshs capital, Dhaka.
Another 700 are reported to have been injured in the buildings collapse which involved several garment factories, a senior emergency ward doctor at a nearby hospital revealed, while many remain still trapped inside the building.
Tens of thousands of people gathered at the site, some of them weeping survivors, some searching for family members.
Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, in charge of the recovery operation, said 600 people had been rescued but the death toll could rise.
Clothing factories are usually staffed 24 hours a day.
Firefighters and soldiers using drilling machines and cranes worked together with local volunteers in the search for other survivors from the building, which fell into itself, leaving it about two storeys tall.
The collapse stirred memories of a fatal fire in a clothing factory in November that killed 112 people and raised an outcry about safety in the nations garment industry.
That fire at the Tazreen factory drew international attention to the conditions workers toil under in the $20bn-a-year (13bn) textile industry in Bangladesh.
The country has about 4,000 garment factories and exports clothes to leading Western retailers the industry wields vast power in the South Asian nation.
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Tazreen did not have emergency exits and its owner said only three floors of the eight-story building were legally built.
Surviving employees said gates had been locked and managers had told them to go back to work after the fire alarm went off.
The factory made clothes for Wal-Mart, Disney and other Western brands.
More follows Sky News
Factory workers were forced to return to work after warnings about cracks in & movement of, the building were ignored by owners.
The army has now been drafted in to help Search & Rescue efforts.
Building collapse legal action will be taken: Minister
Savar multi-storied buildings collapsed after an incident at the home of Rana Plaza Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir said. The present Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hasan Mahmud Khandaker.
(Photo: bartabangla.com)
He said, Those who would endanger public life, building construction, and measures will be taken against them.
He said, The committee will investigate the incident. Uddharakaja and treatment of the wounded had to be carried from the treasury.
Army, RAB, Fire Service, Ansar, police and Awami League activists took part in the rescue tatparataya. He told them to thank.
Blood is needed to treat the injured, he said.
Savar multi-storied buildings collapsed after an incident at the home of Rana Plaza Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir said. The present Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hasan Mahmud Khandaker.
He said, Those who would endanger public life, building construction, and measures will be taken against them.
He said, The committee will investigate the incident. Uddharakaja and treatment of the wounded had to be carried from the treasury.
Army, RAB, Fire Service, Ansar, police and Awami League activists took part in the rescue tatparataya. He told them to thank.
positive blood needed for labourers injured in Savar tragedy
By News Editor
Published: 2005-04-26 18:00:00.0 Updated: 2005-04-26 18:00:00.0
Seven labourers who received severe injuries at the garments factory collapse at Savar urgently need O positive blood.
Dhaka, April 27 (BDNEWS) Seven labourers who received severe injuries at the garments factory collapse at Savar urgently need O positive blood.
They have been undergoing treatment at Orthopaedic Hospital.
The labourers who are fighting for life at the hospital are Kamal Hossain, Manjurul Islam, Mozaffar, Rafiqul Islam, Md Nure Alam, Motaleb and Safiqul Islam.
The persons who want to donate blood are requested to contact at the Ward I/J, Ward A/B, Ward C and Ward Para.
BDNEWS/2026 hrs
Large volumes of blood needed
Natunbarta.com
Dhaka: Major General Chowdhury Hasan, General Officer Commanding of the 9th infantry division, have called upon all government and private hospitals to store large volumes of blood that are needed to treat victims of Savar tragedy.
He also called on voluntary blood donors to donate blood by going to hospitals.Bangladesh: Factories Ignored Evacuation Order
Clothing factories apparently ignored police instructions to leave a building that collapsed a day later, leaving 175 people dead.
SKY NEWS 9:39am (BST) UK, Thursday 25 April 2013
The order was made after deep cracks became visible as the death toll from the tragedy rose to at least 175 and it emerged a Primark supplier was based at the premises.
After the cracks were reported on Tuesday, managers of a bank that also had an office in the building, evacuated their workers and suspended their operations.
But the garment factories continued working, ignoring the instructions of officers, said police spokesman Mostafizur Rahman.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had also asked the factories to suspend work starting on Wednesday morning, just hours before the building fell.
After we got the crack reports, we asked them to suspend work until further examination, but they did not pay heed, said Atiqul Islam, the groups president.
Survivors say they were made to carry on working in the eight-storey block despite apparent concerns about its safety.
The building, in Savar on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, housed at least four factories producing clothes for leading Western retailers.
The high street giant Primark has confirmed that one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the building.
Bosses at the retailer say they were shocked and saddened by the collapse.
In a statement released on the companys website, a Primark spokesman said: The company is shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident at Savar, near Dhaka, and expresses its condolences to all of those involved.
Meanwhile Primarks ethical trade team is at this moment working to collect information, assess which communities the workers come from, and to providesupport where possible.
Army Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder said late on Thursday that many people were still trapped in the building.
The disaster came less than five months after a factory fire killed 112 people and underscored the unsafe conditions faced by Bangladeshs garment workers.
Workers said they had hesitated to enter the building on Wednesday morning because it had developed such large cracks a day earlier that it even drew the attention of local news channels.
Just hours later the building came tumbling down.
Tens of thousands of people have gathered at the site, weeping and searching for family members.
Searchers worked through the night to get through the jumbled mess of concrete with drills or their bare hands, passing water and flashlights to those pinned inside the building.
I gave them whistles, water, torchlights. I heard them cry. We cant leave them behind this way, said fire official Abul Khayer.
Abdur Rahim, who worked on the fifth floor, said a factory manager gave assurances that the cracks in the building were no cause for concern, so employees went inside.
After about an hour or so, the building collapsed suddenly, MrRahim said.
The next thing he remembers is regaining consciousness outside.
On a visit to the site, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir told reporters the building had violated construction codes and that the culprits would be punished. Sky News
Bangladesh building collapse toll hits 175
A garment factory building in Bangladesh that collapsed, killing at least 175 people, had been ordered to be evacuated due to deep cracks but the factories flouted the order and continued working, officials say.
One day after Wednesdays collapse, as hundreds of rescuers clawed through the rubble, the cries of trapped survivors could still occasionally be heard, with the screams of a woman pinned between concrete slabs mingling with the wails of distraught relatives waiting for news or collecting bodies.
An enormous section of the concrete structure appeared to have splintered like twigs.
The disaster in the Dhaka suburb of Savar came less than five months after a blaze killed 112 people in a garment factory.
The incidents underscore the unsafe conditions faced by Bangladeshs garment workers, who produce clothes for global brands worn around the world.
After the cracks were reported on Tuesday, managers of a local bank that also had an office in the building, evacuated their workers and suspended their operations.
However, the garment factories continued working, ignoring the instructions of the local industrial police, said Mostafizur Rahman, a director of the industrial police.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had also asked the factories to suspend work starting Wednesday morning, just hours before the building fell.
After we got the crack reports, we asked them to suspend work until further examination but they did not pay heed, said Atiqul Islam, the groups president.
On Thursday morning the odour of rotting bodies was evident as rescue workers continued to search for more survivors and victims.
Junior minister for Home Affairs, Shamsul Haque, said that by late Thursday morning a total of 2000 people had been rescued from the wreckage.
Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is overseeing army rescue teams, said the death toll had climbed to 175 on Thursday afternoon.
Dozens of bodies, their faces covered, were laid outside a local school building so relatives could identify them.
The garment manufacturers group said the factories in the building employed 3122 workers but it was not clear how many workers were in the building when it collapsed.
Searchers worked through the night to probe the jumbled mass of concrete with drills or their bare hands, passing water and flashlights to people pinned inside.
I gave them whistles, water, torchlights. I heard them cry, said fire official Abul Khayer.
Abdur Rahim, an employee who worked on the fifth floor, said a factory manager gave assurances that the cracks in the building were no cause for concern, so employees went inside.
After about an hour or so, the building collapsed suddenly, Rahim said.
The next thing he remembered was regaining consciousness outside.
On a visit to the site, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir told reporters the building had violated construction codes and that the culprits would be punished.
Abdul Halim, an official with the engineering department in Savar, said the owner was originally allowed to construct a five-storey building but he added another three storeys illegally.
Local police chief Mohammed Asaduzzaman said police and the governments Capital Development Authority have filed separate cases of negligence against the building owner.
Habibur Rahman, police superintendent of the Dhaka district, identified the owner as Mohammed Sohel Rana, a local leader of ruling Awami Leagues youth front.
Rahman said police were also looking for the owners of the garment factories. - Julhas Alam, AAP April 25, 2013, 5:38 pm (Australia)
Workers protest in Dhaka over factory deaths |
Thousands take to streets day after building collapse leaves at least 161 dead, as hunt for survivors continues. |
Al Jazeeras special correspondent, whom we are not naming for security reasons, said on Thursday that thousands of protestors took to the streets of Dhaka with sticks in their hands chanting slogans such as we want execution of the garment factory owners.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association building office has been attacked, our correspondent said.
Workers have blocked road and indulged in vandalism at some places, the Daily Star newspaper reported. aljazeera.com 25 Apr 2013 08:46
Tessel Pauli, a spokeswoman for the Amsterdam-based Clean Clothes Campaign, said the latest disaster was symptomatic of problems in Bangladesh where foreign buyers are accused of jeopardising safety in their search for profit.
These accidents represent a failure of these brands to make safety a priority. They know what needs to be done and they are not doing it, Pauli said.
Bangladeshi unions and rights activists have also reacted furiously, calling for an end to the impunity the countrys garment manufacturers enjoy.
Among the textile businesses in the building were Phantom Apparels Ltd., Phantom Tac Ltd., New Wave Style Ltd., New Wave Bottoms Ltd. and New Wave Brothers Ltd. According to their website, the New Wave companies make clothing for major brands including U.S. retailers The Childrens Place and Dress Barn, Britains Primark, Spains Mango and Italys Benetton. Benettons communications department said in an email to The Associated Press that people involved in the collapse were not Benetton suppliers.
Jane Singer, a spokeswoman for The Childrens Place, said that while one of the garment factories located in the building complex has produced apparel for The Childrens Place, none of our product was in production at the time of this accident.
Dress Barn said that to its knowledge, it had not purchased clothing from the factories involved since 2010. Primark, a major British clothing retailer, confirmed that one of the suppliers it uses to produce some of its goods was located on the second floor of the building.
In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, Primark said it was shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling incident. It added that it has been working with other retailers to review the countrys approach to factory standards and will now push for this review to include building integrity. Meanwhile, Primarks ethical trade team is working to collect information, assess which communities the workers come from and provide support where possible.
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Mango denied reports it was using any of the suppliers in the building. However, in an email statement to the AP, it said that there had been conversations with one of them to produce a batch of test products.
Kevin Gardner, a spokesman at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the second-largest clothing producer in Bangladesh, said the company is investigating to see if a factory in the building had been producing for the chain at the time of the collapse. heraldsun.com.au
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25 April 2013 Extract from bloomberg.com:
Loblaw Cos. (L)’ Joe Fresh and Associated British Foods Plc (ABF)’s (ABF) Primark, which yesterday said that their suppliers made garments at the collapsed factory, both vowed to help improve working conditions in Bangladesh.
The disaster is another black mark on Bangladesh’s industrial safety record, which made headlines after a fire at a plant producing garments for companies including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) that killed at least 100 people in November. More than 700 garment workers have died since 2005 in Bangladesh, according to the International Labor Rights Forum, a Washington-based advocacy group.
“Labor rights groups around the world have been asking, indeed imploring, major retailers to address the grievous safety hazards in their Bangladesh factories and the response is always the same: vague promises and public relations dodges, while the pile of corpses grows ever higher,” Scott Nova, executive director of the Washington-based Worker Rights Consortium, said yesterday in a statement.
Joe Fresh, the clothing brand owned by Brampton, Ontario- based Loblaw, had a “small number” of items produced at the complex, Julija Hunter, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.
Regular Audits
The company is “saddened” by the tragedy and will work with its vendor to see how it can help, she said. Loblaw has standards for suppliers to make sure that products are produced in a socially responsible manner and conducts regular audits to ensure compliance, Hunter said.
“We hope to hear more from the authorities about the status of this situation and we are committed to supporting them,” she said.
One of Primark’s suppliers occupied the building’s second floor, the company said in a statement. The budget fashion chain owned by London-based Associated British Foods said it was “shocked and saddened” by the accident and has worked with non-governmental organizations to help improve factory standards in Bangladesh.
Supply Chain
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is investigating its supply chain to see if a factory in the building was producing for the company, Kevin Gardner, a spokesman for the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer, said yesterday in an e- mailed statement.
“We are sorry to learn of this tragic event,” Gardner said. “We remain committed and are actively engaged in promoting stronger safety measures, and that work continues.”
The number of deaths rose to 153 today, Mohammad Asaduzzaman, who’s in charge of Savar Model Police Station, said in an interview from the scene. Officers have handed over 92 bodies to relatives, according to Aminur Rahman, a senior police officer. The remaining 46 bodies with bruises and cuts on their faces and bodies are laid out in the corridor of a school building.
The accident at the eight-story building injured about 800 people working in the plants, the Bdnews24.com website reported without citing anyone. As many as 6,000 people were employed in the facilities housed in the building 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of the capital Dhaka, the news website reported. A few shops and a bank also had an office in the area, Health Minister A.F.M. Ruhal Haque said in a briefing yesterday.
“It will take a lot of time to get a full picture of the devastation,” Nilufa Yasmin, a duty officer at the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence, said in a phone interview. “The top five floors of the building collapsed on top of each other, trapping many inside.”
Mangled Concrete
Rescue operations continued through the night at the disaster site surrounded by hundreds of onlookers. Families of the workers were seen wailing for their loved ones while the others were in frantic search for them from hospital to hospital. Injured workers were being carried on stretchers into a crowded emergency room at a nearby hospital.
Rescuers struggled to help free people from the mangled pieces of concrete, rods and bricks. The government has deployed the army, the elite Rapid Action Battalion and police to help fire officials in the rescue effort.
Surging wages and inflation in China, the largest apparel supplier, have prompted retailers such as Wal-Mart and Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) to shift production to Bangladesh. In response, an $18 billion manufacturing industry has sprung up, marred by factories operated in buildings with poor electrical wiring, an insufficient number of exits and little fire-fighting equipment.
The collapsed building had developed cracks the previous day, prompting BRAC Bank Ltd. to order its employees to vacate the premises, said Zeeshan Kingshuk Huq, a spokesman.
“We evacuated our staff yesterday,” Huq said. “Other commercial units did not do the same.”
Safety Standards
About half of the Bangladesh’s garment factories don’t meet legally required work safety standards, and those that have improved working conditions have done so under pressure from Western apparel makers, said Kalpona Akter, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, a non- governmental organization founded by two former garment child workers to promote safer factories.
Bangladesh’s labor law requires safety measures such as fire extinguishers and easily accessible exits at factories.
Workers-rights advocates are petitioning companies to sign a contractually enforceable memorandum that would require them to pay Bangladesh factories enough to cover costs of safety improvements.
So far, PVH Corp. (PVH), owner of the Tommy Hilfiger brand, and German retailer Tchibo are the only ones to sign the agreement, which also would require companies to provide accurate and regularly updated lists of their approved suppliers and subcontractors in Bangladesh. It won’t take effect until four major retailers sign on.
Factory Conditions
“These accidents are a huge reason why we’ve created the agreement,” Akter said. “It’s not just about fires, it’s about all factory conditions. This building has collapsed. There are many more buildings waiting to collapse.”
Textiles contribute more than 10 percent of Bangladesh’s gross domestic product and about 80 percent of the nation’s exports, mainly to the U.S. and the EU, according to the manufacturers’ association.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in a statement that she was shocked at the tragedy. Bangladesh will observe a day of mourning tomorrow, Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters in Dhaka.
Dhaka building collapse: Dozens found alive in rubble
BBC NEWS 25 April 2013 Last updated at 17:54
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Dozens of people have been found alive in a room in the ruins of a building outside the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, a day after it collapsed.
Bangladeshi television broadcast images of the operation at the site of the collapse in the Savar area, which killed at least 250 people.
It is thought many more people may still be unaccounted for.
Police said the owners of factories in the building had ignored warnings about cracks appearing on Tuesday.
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.
At the scene
Rescue teams have been frantically searching for survivors as they are aware that they are racing against time.
The heat and the dust could take its own toll. The broken concrete blocks are precariously placed and there are concerns for rescue workers as well.
When more people are pulled out alive, that gives lots of encouragement to the rescue workers, many of whom are local volunteers.
The collapse has already triggered anger among garment factory workers who were holding protests in some places in Dhaka. Garment factory owners and Western retailers are likely to face tough questions from labour rights campaigners in the coming weeks.
The High Court has summoned the Rana Plaza building owner and senior managers of the factories to appear before judges on 30 April, local media report.
The factory owners are said to have gone into hiding.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said those thought to be responsible for the disaster, including the owner, would be prosecuted.
Wherever he is, he will be found and brought to justice, she told politicians.
Bangladesh is holding a day of national mourning for the victims.
I want to liveTeams from the army, the fire service and border guards have been working around the clock at the site to find survivors, using heavy lifting gear, tools and their bare hands.
Officials say they have now found 250 bodies in the rubble. Thousands of people have gathered at the site, waiting for news of relatives.
On Thursday, Brig Gen Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is heading the rescue mission, said 40 people had been located in the rubble, trapped inside one room.
The news was greeted with jubilation at the scene, the BBCs Anbarasan Ethirajan reports.
However later reports put the number found at 24.
The military said at least 12 of the group had since been pulled free.
One rescue official told the BBC that the group was found after they were heard screaming in the rubble.
Search teams have been dropping water bottles and food items to other survivors who are still trapped.
One trapped man, Mohammad Altab, was able to speak to an Associated Press reporter, telling him he had two children.
I want to live. Its so painful here, he said.
Another man, trapped deeper in the rubble, begged for rescue, telling the reporter: Its hard to remain alive here. It would have been better to die than enduring such pain to live on.
Local hospitals have been overwhelmed with the arrival of more than 1,000 injured people.
Are London shoppers concerned about where there clothes come from?
Industry criticisedOur correspondent says the rescuers intend to continue their operation for several days, but that they are aware time is now running out.
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.
But the industry has been widely criticised for its low pay and limited rights given to workers and for the often dangerous working conditions in garment factories.
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, and said it would work with other retailers to review standards.
US discount giant Wal-Mart said it was still trying to establish whether its goods were being produced at the Rana Plaza.
A company called New Wave, with two factories in the building, supplies firms from around Europe, the US and Canada, while Spanish retailer Mango said it had been in production talks with a supplier at the factory.
Labour rights groups say the companies have a moral duty to ensure their suppliers are providing safe conditions for their employees.
These are billion dollar companies. They have a huge amount of power to change the way that building safety is accepted here, Gareth Price-Jones, Oxfams country director for Bangladesh, told Reuters.
Thousands of garment workers in other areas of Dhaka have taken to the streets and blocked roads to protest about the deaths of the workers in Savar.
Bangladeshs Daily Star newspaper reported that protesters had clashed with police, resulting in some injuries.
Update 26 April 2013:
Dhaka building collapse: Fears for hundreds still missing
BBC NEWS 26 April 2013 Last updated at 10:10BST
Police fired teargas and rubber bullets at protesters, who are angry at poor safety standards in factories
Hundreds of people are still missing after Wednesdays collapse of a building in Bangladesh which killed at least 273 people, local officials say.
More than 40 people have been rescued since Thursday from the Rana Plaza building near Dhaka, which housed clothes factories.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called for special prayers to be held across the country later for the victims.
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Angry protesters have taken to the streets of Dhaka for a second day.
They are demanding the authorities arrest the owner of the collapsed building and improve conditions for garment workers.
Police said that at least ten thousand people had gathered for the demonstrations and described the situation as volatile.
Police used tear-gas and rubber bullets to break up the crowds, which had blocked roads, torched buses and attacked textile factories.
Bangladesh media reaction
The Daily Sun asks: Have the garment factories become a death valley for poor workers?. It says the sense of impunity around such disasters has left factory owners with the feeling they can get away with every violation of the basic rules of workers safety and are accountable to nobody.
The New Age also pulls no punches, saying it is a clear case of mass murder committed by greedy rich people and accuses the government of protecting such people by making misleading public statements.
The Holiday points out that factory owners owe their opulent lifestyles to some 3.5 million workers, mostly women, whose lives are wretched. The accumulation of wealth should not be at the cost of exploitation, it says.
The Daily Star praises peoples reaction to the disaster and hopes that when the dust has settled and the rubble cleared the authorities will get their act together in addressing loopholes in the system that allow for disasters like this to happen.
The owner of the building, according to police, ignored warnings about cracks appearing earlier this week. He is said to be in hiding, but Sheikh Hasina has promised that he will be punished.
I want to liveSome 2,000 people were in the Rana Plaza building in Savar when it collapsed suddenly on Wednesday morning.
Teams from the army, the fire service and border guards are still working around the clock at the site to find survivors, using heavy lifting gear, tools and their bare hands.
Search teams have been dropping water bottles and food items to other survivors who are still trapped.
The local command centre said families had given the names of 372 people who were still unaccounted for.
However, reports suggest the number of missing is much higher.
One trapped man, Mohammad Altab, was able to speak to journalists, saying: I want to live. Its so painful here.
Footage shot by a fire service volunteer shows the scene inside the building
Another man, trapped deeper in the rubble, begged for rescue, said: Its hard to remain alive here. It would have been better to die than enduring such pain to live on.
Local hospitals have been overwhelmed with the arrival of more than 1,000 injured people.
Industry criticised
The rescuers intend to continue their operation until Saturday, but correspondents say they are aware time is running out.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.
But the industry has been widely criticised for its low pay and limited rights given to workers and for the often dangerous working conditions in garment factories.
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, and said it would work with other retailers to review standards.
US discount giant Wal-Mart said it was still trying to establish whether its goods were being produced at the Rana Plaza.
Labour rights groups say the companies have a moral duty to ensure their suppliers are providing safe conditions for their employees.
These are billion dollar companies. They have a huge amount of power to change the way that building safety is accepted here, Gareth Price-Jones, Oxfams country director for Bangladesh, told Reuters.
UPDATE 0950 UTC:
Death toll rises to 294; about 2400 rescued alive; still about
800 feared missing
More than 11 people rescued alive in the last 10 minutes, rescuers are pulling more people out minute by minute.
Lines of ambulances are waiting to carry the survivors; rescuers are pulling out survivors every moment.
A group of 8 people will be rescued from the 7th floor within minutes: rescuers informed.
UPDATE 2040 UTC:
Death toll rises to 312
Rescue activities were being hampered as a fire broke out on the ground floor around 12:30am.
Some volunteers claimed that it would be difficult to rescue the trapped workers because the firefighters were failing to identify the source of the fire.
The flame could not be doused as of 1:30am today.
News of other buildings with cracks emerge:
https://www.facebook.com/GoatysNews/posts/450656195009634
Saturday, April 27, 2013 | 02:05 (local time)Hopes not over yet
24 rescued together 34 hours into collapse; rescue goes on with no break
Wasim Bin Habib, Akram Hosen and Pankaj Karmaker
Altaf Hossain raised his arm and pleaded the photographer to lift the pillar on his back just a little so that he could slip out and live. Unable to bear the pain he was in, he couldnt speak anymore. He was yesterday found in the rear end of Rana Plaza, which is just rubbles at Bazar bus stand in Savar. Photo: Amran Hossain
Around 34 hours after the collapse of Rana Plaza, 24 trapped people were rescued alive from beneath the rubble of the nine-storey building yesterday evening, keeping alive the hope that more lives can be saved as the rescue operation continues.
The death toll in the tragic incident in Savar rose to 258 as of 2:00am today, with 108 more bodies extricated from the debris throughout the day. Of the bodies, at least 216 have been handed over to their relatives, police and district administration officials said.
So far some 1,400 survivors have been pulled out, with about 1,000 more believed to be still trapped inside.
Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, told The Daily Star that 24 survivors and a dead body had been found at one point under the third floor.
Between 1:30am and 2:05am today, another 20 trapped workers were rescued and sent to hospitals.
About the rescue operation, he said a decision would be made depending on the situation. But we hope to go on with it till tomorrow night [tonight].
Major Sharif Mohammad Aman Hossain, a rescue leader, told the media around 12:15am today there were around a few hundred people alive in the collapsed building.
Also, the rescue activities were being hampered as a fire broke out on the ground floor around 12:30am.
Some volunteers claimed that it would be difficult to rescue the trapped workers because the firefighters were failing to identify the source of the fire.
The flame could not be doused as of 1:30am today.
Anisur Rahman Raihan, one of the 24 rescued, said those trapped in the debris had severe difficulties breathing inside. We could hear people working outside, but none heard us screaming.
According to firemen, the lack of oxygen was the main threat to the lives of those trapped alive.
Rescue workers are making frantic efforts to save more lives. But they are facing difficulties in speeding up the operation due to the precarious situation the survivors are in. Shortage of equipment is also slowing down their efforts.
Moreover, the presence of the crowd that gathered on the road stretching for more than a kilometre from the collapsed building is badly affecting the rescue job.
Curious people in their thousands came just to have a glimpse of the crumbled building. Others came to help the rescuers or donate blood for the victims in makeshift blood donation centres. Hundreds of others brought in drinking water and saline.
Although the firefighters, army personnel, Rab members and policemen are running the rescue operation, the general people, locals and even outsiders, are also working round the clock.
The road from Hemayetpur to Savar, which was closed yesterday, will remain so until the rescue operation ends.
Babul Mia, a day labourer, is one of them. He joined the rescue efforts around 6:00pm on Wednesday and was seen working side by side with the professional rescuers yesterday evening without any safety gear on.
I pulled out 23 trapped workers and 21 bodies from the rubble, he told The Daily Star.
A strong stench of decomposing bodies is already seeping through the cracks and crevices of the concrete jumble.
Inside a crevice, the corpse of a young man lies on his belly in the dust as if he was in deep sleep.
A girl was rescued around 11:50am by cutting off her hand, which was trapped under the debris. Rescuers later rushed her to a hospital.
Survivors like her are still calling out for help.
A pillar has fallen over me. Someone please save me. Cut my hands to free me, Aftab, another trapped man, cried out as The Daily Star correspondents went near the building in the morning.
Hundreds of relatives and neighbours still wait in the hope that they will get some news about their loved ones. As bodies are pulled out and carried to a nearby school ground, they rush for identification. Photos of dozens of victims are pasted on the boundary walls of the school.
But the relatives have to go from one place to another in desperate search of their loved ones due to the absence of a central coordination team that will keep the records of the victims.
I have been waiting here since yesterday [Wednesday] noon, but I am still clueless about my sisters fate, says Abu Taher, whose red swollen eyes do not produce any more tears.
I went to every clinic here but did not find her. Can you tell me where to go? said Taher, who had come all the way from Mymensingh on hearing of the tragedy.
Some people, agitating at the disaster site, alleged the bodies were being transferred to unknown places. They were shouting for the return of their relatives, dead or alive.
Meanwhile, cracks developed yesterday in another eight-storey building owned by Sohel Rana, owner of Rana Plaza. The building, Rana Tower, which houses business offices, has been closed down.
The cracks developed in a pillar on the ground floor of the building, about half a kilometre from Rana Plaza.
Another six-storey building housing a readymade garment factory Fatema Garments Ltd in nearby Sobhanbagh area developed cracks on its third, fourth and fifth floors.
Local residents forced the building owner, Abdur Rahman, to have it vacated early yesterday, said Anisur Rahman, who runs a medical chamber close to the building near Savar City Centre.
The Upazila Nirbahi Officer and police later visited the building and declared it unsafe.
Meanwhile, the government has formed a five-member committee to investigate the collapse of Rana Plaza.
The committee will probe the reasons for the collapse and find out those responsible for the disaster, said Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir at a press briefing at his secretariat office yesterday.
The minister added the authorities would take action against the Savar UNO if he was found guilty of issuing a no-objection certificate to Rana Plaza. The UNO has no such authority.
Update 27 April 2013 1300 UTC:
Death toll continues to rise; 347 people are confirmed dead so far; many dead bodies to be recovered.
Bangladesh Building Collapse: Five In Custody
Rescuers continue to pull out trapped workers alive more than three days after the factory complex collapsed killing 340 people.
Rescue crews are still trying to find survivors in the collapsed building
A survivor is pulled out alive on Saturday
Police in Bangladesh have arrested two clothing factory bosses based at the eight-storey building near the capital Dhaka that collapsed killing 340 people.
Two engineers Imtemam Hossain and Alam Ali involved in approving the design of the structure have also been detained for questioning.
Junior home minister Shamsul Haque Tuku said police had arrested Bazlus Samad, managing director of New Wave Apparels Ltd, and Mahmudur Rahaman Tapash, the company chairman. It is the largest of the five factories in the complex.
Police have filed a case against them for death due to negligence, after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the owners forced the workers to return to work after cracks appeared in the building.
The wife of Mohammed Sohel Rana the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building who has not been seen since the tragedy has also been detained.
(Latest: Owner & MD of 2 garment factories are remanded for 12 days each; 2 engineers remanded for 8 days each
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had asked the factories based in the structure to shut down on Wednesday morning, hours before the building came down.
After we got the crack reports we asked them to suspend work until further examination, but they did not pay heed, said association president Atiqul Islam.
The arrests came after police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of clothing workers who took to the streets on the outskirts of Dhaka to protest over the deaths as clashes also erupted in the southeastern city of Chittagong.
There was no sign of the rescue operation being called off with authorities pledging to continue the search after 19 people were pulled out alive on Saturday more than three days after the building came down.
With time running out to save workers still trapped in the collapsed building, rescuers have been digging through mangled metal and concrete to find more survivors.
The rescued described hearing a loud crack just before the eight-storey building collapsed, with each level pancaking on top of those below.
The building housed at least four factories producing clothes for leading Western retailers.
High street giant Primark confirmed one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the building.
A Primark spokesman said: The company is shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident at Savar, near Dhaka, and expresses its condolences to all of those involved.
Elsewhere in Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of workers walked out of their factories in solidarity with their dead colleagues.
Some workers leaders attacked Western firms, whom they accused of turning a blind eye while using Bangladeshis as money-making machines.
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Protests spread in Bangladesh amid arrests |
Clashes reported in Chittagong city, as police detain five over building collapse tragedy that left more than 300 dead.Al Jazeera Last Modified: 27 Apr 2013 12:05 |
| Protests in Bangladesh have spread to a second city with hundreds of people throwing stones and setting fire to vehicles, as authorities made arrests in connection with the collapse of factory building that killed more than 300 workers.Police said on Saturday they had arrested two owners of the garment business and two engineers involved in approving the design of the shoddily constructed eight-story building which collapsed on Wednesday.Deputy Home Minister Shamsul Haque Tuku said police had arrested Bazlus Samad, managing director of New Wave Apparels Ltd, and Mahmudur Rahman Tapash, the company chairman.He told reporters that police had also detained the wife of Mohammed Sohel Rana, the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building, for questioning. The top three floors of the eight-story building were illegally constructed.Everyone involved including the designer, engineer, and builders will be arrested for putting up this defective building, Haque said.Dhaka police superintendent Habibur Rahman said Rana was a local leader ofruling Awami Leagues youth front. Officials said Rana Plaza, on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, had been built without the correct permits, and the workers were allowed in on Wednesday despite warnings the previous day that it was structurally unsafe. Manypulled out alive At least23 people were pulled out alive from under the tangled mess of concrete, bricks and steel on Saturday, more than 72 hours after the building came down that has claimed the lives of at least 340 people.
We must salute the common people who dared to enter the wreckage to rescue them, as even our professionals didnt dare to take the risk, Mizanur Rahman, deputy director of the fire service, told Reuters. As many as 900 people could still be missing, police said. Police in riot gear formed a cordon around the site to keep away hundreds of protesters who have vented their anger at the situation since Wednesday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina vowed there would be justice in the worst tragedy to hit Bangladeshs poorly regulated garment industry that supplies clothes to top Western brand names. Anger has grown and protests have spread across Bangladesheven as protesters clashed with the police in Savar, thesite of the accident, for the second day. Worker safety Police said on Saturday thatclashes haderupted in other parts of Dhaka and in the southeastern city of Chittagong where hundreds of garment workers took to the streets, blocked roads and vandalised vehicles. Authorities shut garment factories in Dhaka for fear of violence,which has persisted over demands that authorities take stern action against the guilty. Wednesdays collapse was thesecond major industrial incident in five months in Bangladesh, the second-largest exporter of garments in the world. In November last year, a fire at the Tazreen Fashion factory nearby the latest disaster killed 112 people. Such incidents have raised serious questions about worker safety and low wages, and could taint the reputation of the poor South Asian country, which relies on garments for 80 percent of its exports. There is anger over the working conditions of Bangladeshs 3.6 million garment workers most of whom are women -who toil for $38 a month. Human Rights Watch said the tragedy showed there was an urgent need to improve Bangladeshs protections for worker health and safety.
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Update 1st May 2013:
Bangladesh building collapse: Death toll passes 400
BBC NEWS 1 May 2013 Last updated at 15:11
The BBCs Anbarasan Ethirajan reports from Dhaka on the fallout from last weeks building collapse
The number of people killed in the collapse of a building in Bangladesh which housed garment factories last week has passed 400, officials say.
At least 149 people are still believed to be missing underneath the remains of the eight-storey Rana Plaza in Savar, a town on the outskirts of Dhaka.
At May Day parades in the capital, workers demanded the death penalty for the buildings owner.
The Rana Plaza collapse is the nations worst industrial disaster.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, and some of the clothes produced in the building were made for Western retailers.
Police officials confirmed on Wednesday that 399 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage, and that another three people had died in hospital.
An army general said the list of the missing had been drawn up by local officials and was confirmed by Dhaka district administrator Zillur Rahman Chowdhury.
Earlier estimates had put the figure far higher, but this may have been as a result of duplications. Some 2,500 people were injured in the disaster.
Hang the killers
The building was turned into 600 tons of rubble in the disaster, about 350 tons of which has now been cleared.
The number of people at the main Dhaka protest was put at about 20,000, with other demonstrations in separate parts of the capital and in other cities.
Mass graves are prepared to receive bodies of unidentified garment workersSome in Dhaka held banners with the words: Hang the killers, Hang the Factory Owners.
One protester blared through a loudspeaker: My brother has died. My sister has died. Their blood will not be valueless.
Kamrul Anam, of the Bangladesh Textile and Garments Workers League, said the building collapse was murder, telling AFP: We want the severest punishment possible for those responsible for this tragedy.
The protesters also demanded better working conditions.
Garment worker Mongidul Islam Rana told Associated Press: We want regular salaries, raises and absolutely we want better safety in our factories.
Rana Plaza owner Mohammed Sohel Rana, a local leader of the youth wing of the ruling Awami League party, is in police custody.
A total of eight people have been arrested, including factory owners and engineers, and they have been accused of negligence.
Cracks had appeared in Rana Plaza, in the Savar district, the day before the collapse but the staff were reportedly told to continue work.
Some 350 tons of the 600 tons of rubble has so far been cleared at the Rana Plaza collapseMany factories have been closed since the disaster, with regular street protests.
On Tuesday night, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged people to return to work.
She said in parliament: I would like to tell the workers to keep their head cool, keep mills and factories operative, otherwise you will end up losing your jobs.
Speaking at his regular morning Mass at the Vatican, Pope Francis called the working conditions of those who died in Bangladesh slave labour.
Not paying a fair wage, not giving a job because you are only looking at balance sheets, only looking to make a profit, that goes against God, he said.
Meanwhile, the European Union said it was considering appropriate action to encourage improvements in working conditions in Bangladesh factories.
It said its actions may include the use of its trade preference system, which gives Bangladesh duty- and quota-free access to EU markets.
Bangladeshs garment industry makes up almost 80% of the countrys annual exports provides employment to about four million people.
However, it has faced criticism over low pay and limited rights given to workers, and for the often dangerous working conditions in factories.
Dhaka collapse
Shattered lives
Relatives of victims of the Dhaka building collapse tell the BBCs Farid Ahmed about the impact of losing a loved one and their demands for justice.
Pope slams slave labour
Bangladesh building collapse death toll passes 700
7 May 2013 Last updated at 08:14 GMT/UTC
Rescue officials say they do not know exactly how many people are still missing after the disasterThe death toll from the collapse of an eight-storey factory building near the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, has passed 700, officials say.
The announcement came after workers pulled dozens more bodies from the rubble. Many people are still missing.
Several people, including the buildings owner, have been arrested.
The collapse of the Rana Plaza on 24 April stands as Bangladeshs worst industrial disaster. It sparked outrage among workers in the country.
The previous most deadly structural failure in modern times excluding the 9/11 terror attacks in New York was the Sampoong department store in Seoul, South Korea, in 1995, in which 502 people died.
The death toll from Bangladesh now stands at 705. Officials say about 2,500 people were injured in the collapse and that 2,437 people have been rescued.
Rescue officials also say they do not know exactly how many people are still missing as factory owners have not given them precise figures.
Working conditions
It came as hundreds of garment workers who survived the collapse protested by blocking a highway close to the accident site demanding unpaid wages and benefits.
Reports say many of them were working in some of the factories housed in the illegally constructed building.
Local government administrator Yousuf Harun told the Associated Press news agency that they are working with a garment industry body to ensure the workers are paid.
The disaster put the spotlight on conditions in the countrys garment sector.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, and some of the clothes produced in the building were made for Western retailers.
The EU has said it is considering appropriate action to encourage an improvement in working conditions in Bangladesh factories.
This includes the use of its trade preference system, which gives Bangladesh duty- and quota-free access to markets in member states.
On Monday the government announced a panel that would inspect garment factories for building flaws.
================================================================
Update 9 May 2013:
Bangladesh building collapse death toll over 800
8 May 2013 Last updated at 14:53BST
The collapse left more than 2,000 people injuredThe army in Bangladesh says 804 people have been confirmed dead after the collapse of an eight-storey factory building near the capital Dhaka.
Authorities are continuing to search the rubble for more bodies two weeks after the Rana Plaza building collapsed on 24 April.
Bangladeshs largest industrial disaster sparked outrage among workers in the country.
Several people, including the buildings owner, have been arrested.
Many of the bodies recovered on Wednesday were so decomposed, they were being sent to a lab for DNA identification, the AP news agency reports.
Officials say about 2,500 people were injured in the collapse and that 2,437 people have been rescued.
Bangladesh has shut down 18 garment plants for safety reasons since the Rana Plaza disaster, the Bangladeshi textile minister has confirmed.
Well ensure ILO standards in terms of compliance, Abdul Latif Siddique told AFP news agency.
We have seen that those who claim to be the best compliant factories in Bangladesh have not fully abided by building regulations, he added.
The move follows Mondays government announcement that a panel would inspect garment factories for building flaws.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, and some of the clothes produced in the building were made for Western retailers.
The EU has said it is considering appropriate action to encourage an improvement in working conditions in Bangladesh factories.
Eight dead in Bangladesh garment factory blaze
9 May 2013 Last updated at 06:44 BST
The BBCs Masud Khan in Dhaka: It has become a real headache for the government as to how to enforce the safety standards
A fire in a garment factory in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, has killed at least eight people, police say.
Officials said the blaze happened overnight in the Mirpur industrial district.
It came with the issue of industrial safety in Bangladesh under intense scrutiny after the collapse of an eight-storey building last month.
On Thursday officials confirmed that at least 912 people had died in that disaster.
Reports suggested that a police officer and the owner of the factory were among the eight killed in Wednesdays blaze.
They were believed to be holding a meeting in the 11-storey building, which belongs to garment exporter Tung Hai Group, when the fire broke out.
It was a big fire but we managed to confine it on one floor, Mahbubur Rahman, operations director of Bangladeshs fire service, told AFP news agency.
The victims had suffocated after becoming overwhelmed by toxic smoke from burnt acrylic clothing, he said.
Fire officials said it took around two hours to tame the blaze.
Most of the workers had already gone home when the fire started, reports said.
It is not clear to us how the accident happened, but we are trying to find out the cause, Mohammad Atiqul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Reuters news agency.
Regulations ignored
Two weeks ago Bangladesh was hit by its biggest industrial disaster, with the collapse of the Rana Plaza building on 24 April, which provoked outrage among workers.
The search for bodies is continuing at the complex, where there were several garment factories.
Officials say about 2,500 people were injured in the collapse and 2,437 people were rescued.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh announced a shutdown of 18 garment factories for safety reasons.
We have seen that those who claim to be the best compliant factories in Bangladesh have not fully abided by building regulations, the Bangladeshi textile minister, Abdul Latif Siddique, told reporters.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, and some clothes produced in the Rana Plaza building were made for Western retailers.
The industry employs about four million people and contributes almost 80% of the countrys annual exports. However, it has faced criticism over low pay and the often dangerous working conditions in factories.
Update 10 May 2013:
(Photo: Sky News)
Bangladesh building collapse: Reshma Begum found alive after 17 days trapped under rubble as rescuers were about to call off the search
“Workers clearing a collapsed building site in Bangladesh rescue a woman from the rubble of a Muslim prayer room in the complex.
Rescuers in Bangladesh have found a survivor in the rubble of a clothing factory that collapsed 17 days ago.
Bangladeshi television channels broadcast live footage of emergency service workers pulling the woman out from the debris, as onlookers burst into cheers.
The woman, called Reshma Begum, 19, was discovered on the second floor of the eight-storey Rana Plaza building in the capital Dhaka, where crews had been focusing on recovering bodies, not rescuing survivors, for much of the past two weeks.
“I heard voices of the rescue workers for the past several days.
“I kept hitting the wreckage with sticks and rods just to attract their attention,” she told a TV company from her hospital bed.
“No one heard me. It was so bad for me. I never dreamed I’d see the daylight again,” she said.
“There was some dried food around me. I ate the dried food for 15 days. The last two days I had nothing but water. I used to drink only a limited quantity of water to save it. I had some bottles of water around me,” she said.
She was discovered in the wreckage of a Muslim prayer room in the building and army officials immediately ordered the cranes and bulldozers to stop work.
Once Reshma finally got their attention, the crews ordered the cranes and bulldozers to immediately stop work and used handsaws and welding and drilling equipment to cut through the iron rod and debris still trapping her.
They gave her water, oxygen and saline as they worked to free her, using handsaws to cut through the rubble, as hundreds of people who had been engaged in the grim job of removing decomposing bodies from the site, raised their hands together in prayer.
“Allah, you are the greatest, you can do anything. Please allow us all to rescue the survivor just found,” said a man on a loudspeaker leading the prayers. “We seek apology for our sins. Please pardon us, pardon the person found alive.”
Abdur Razzak, a warrant officer with the military’s engineering department who first spotted her in the wreckage, said she was in a remarkably good condition and could even walk.
“She was fine, no injuries. She was just trapped. The space was wide,” said Lt Col Moyeen, an army official at the scene.
Reshma told her rescuers there were no more survivors in her area. Workers began tearing through the nearby rubble anyway, hoping to find another person alive.
Sky’s Foreign Affairs Correspondent Lisa Holland said: “What’s really remarkable about the story … is that the authorities had said that they were going to call off the search for survivors at the end of today and send the bulldozers in as from tomorrow.
“So, with the clock against them, they heard the remarkable cries for help of this woman who somehow had become trapped between a fallen beam and a column and that somehow gave her some sort of pocketed protection and enabled her to survive for 17 days.”
More than 2,500 people have been rescued in the immediate aftermath of the collapse. However, the death toll has now risen to more than 1,000.
The collapse is already the world’s deadliest garment industry disaster and one of the worst industrial accidents.
The disaster has raised alarm about the often deadly working conditions in Bangladesh’s $20bn (£13bn) garment industry, which provides clothing for major retailers around the globe.” – Sky News
(Video credit: Bill Omar)
Published on 10 May 2013
Bangladeshi rescuers have found a woman survivor in the rubble of a garment factory complex which collapsed and killed more than 1,000 people on April 24, the country’s fire service chief told AFP news agency.
One of the rescuers said that the woman had cried out for help as recovery teams sifted through the wreckage more than 16 days after the nine-storey Rana Plaza complex collapsed on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.
“As we were clearing rubble, we called out if anyone was alive,” the unnamed rescuer told the private Somoy TV channel.
Army officials ordered workers to stop clearing the site Friday as they tried to free a person they said might still be alive.
More than 2,500 people were rescued in the immediate aftermath of the building collapse.
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