REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SAVAR - Survivors from a garment factory that collapsed in Bangladesh killing at least 228 people described on Thursday a deafening bang and tremors before the eight-floor building crashed down under them.
Many more of the mostly female workers were still feared trapped in the rubble more than 24 hours after the disaster, which has brought renewed attention to Western firms who use Bangladesh as a source of low cost goods. In the evening, local residents were still pulling survivors and bodies from the wreckage of the Rana Plaza building in the commercial suburb of Savar, 30 km (20 miles) outside the capital Dhaka, using crowbars and their bare hands in sweltering heat. More than 1,000 people were injured.
"I thought there was an earthquake," said Shirin Akhter (22 years) who was starting her day at the New Wave Style workshop six floors up when the complex crumbled. Akhter was trapped for hours before breaking through a wall. She says her monthly wage was 38 USD.
Relatives identified their dead among rows of corpses wrapped in white cloth in a nearby school field. Police said the owner of the building, local politician Mohammed Sohel Rana, was told of dangerous cracks on Tuesday. While a bank in the building closed on Wednesday, the factories told their workers there was no danger, industry officials said. Rana is now on the run, according to police.
"An unspecified number of victims are still trapped," said Mizanur Rahman, a rescue worker with the fire brigade, as he clambered over the wreckage. "We can't be certain of getting them all out alive. We are losing a bit of hope."
Dhaka's district police chief Habibur Rahman said the death toll could rise further. The government declared a national day of mourning and flags were flown half mast at all official buildings. Dhaka city development authority had filed a case against the building's owner for faulty construction, police chief Rahman said. It filed another case against the owner and the five garments factories for causing unlawful death.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Mohammad Atiqul Islam said there were 3,122 workers in the factories on Wednesday. He said that local officials had indicated the cracks the day before.
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