The death toll from the disastrous Rana Plaza collapse reached 569 on Saturday morning with the recovery of 30 more bodies from the ruins of the collapsed eight-storey building.Rescuers retrieved 30 bodies from the wreckage of the collapsed building from 12 am to 11:30 am Saturday, said Officer-in-Charge Asaduzzaman of Savar Model Police Station.
Of the recovered bodies, 444 bodies were handed over to their families while the rest have been kept on the Savar Adhar Chandra Model High School ground and at the morgues of Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Dhaka Mitford Hospital.
The second phase of the rescue operation using heavy equipment continued for the fifth consecutive day Saturday.
The members of Army, Navy, Air Force, Fire Service and Red Crescent Society are taking part in the second phase rescue operation that began on Tuesday midnight by using heavy cranes, cameras and trained dog squads.
Earlier, on Thursday, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 9th Infantry Division Major General Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy, who is coordinating the rescue operation, said that so far 2,870 people had been pulled out alive or dead from the ruins of the commercial complex. Of them, 2,437 were rescued alive, he had said at a press briefing.
The eight-storey Rana Plaza collapsed on April 24 due to its weak structure.
A good number people were seen waiting in front of the collapsed building in search of their near and dear ones with their photographs. (Source: UNB)
