The death toll from the horrific building collapse at Savar reached 398 with the recovery of several more bodies from the ruins on Sunday as the search for the survivors goes on.Director of Inter-Services Public Relations M Shaheenul Islam at a press briefing at the spot around 5:15 pm said the second phase of rescue operation with heavy equipment to rescue the trapped people who are still alive would begin soon.
The rescue operation was being conducted under the manual system since the Rana Plaza caved in on Wednesday morning. “But from now on, the rescue operation will be conducted under the equipment and evacuation system,” he said.
The ISPR director also said there are enough lifesaving materials and about 35 lakh litres of oxygen in stock to save the life of survivors.
Earlier in the morning, officer-in-charge of Detective Branch (DB) of police of Dhaka district Wahiduzzaman said 369 bodies were pulled out of the wreckage of the building.
Of the total bodies, 347 were handed over to the victims’ families, he said.
The rescuers also recovered four people alive from the ruins of the building early Sunday. With the latest ones, some 2,440 people have been rescued alive since the complex collapsed on Wednesday, sources at the Control Room opened here said.
Rescue Operation Co-ordination Committee on Sunday decided to start operation using heavy equipment to rescue the people who were trapped inside the collapsed complex.
”We have decided to use heavy equipment including hydraulic crane to rescue the people,’’ Major General Hasan Chowdhury Soharawardi, chairman of the committee and also GOC of Ninth Infantry Division, said while briefing the media in front of the collapsed building in Savar.
Army, Fire Service and Red Crescent will conduct the rescue operation, he said.
Locals said some heavy equipment, including cranes and bulldozers, have been assembled here to launch a massive operation. Army personnel have been taking preparation to launch the operation and removed the local people from near the complex site.
The General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Savar Cantonment on Saturday night said the rescue operation would continue as long as the last person remains trapped but alive is rescued.
The ill-constructed building had accommodated at least five garment factories and some 300 shops with nearly 4,000 workers. However, it is not still clear as to how many workers were at their workplaces on the fateful day.
The building, ‘Rana Plaza’, which developed cracks on Tuesday morning, collapsed after a big bang around 9.00 am on Wednesday.
Many survivors alleged that the owners of their garment factories had forced them to go back to work on Wednesday morning against their will.
Meanwhile, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members arrested Sohel Rana, the owner of Rana Plaza, from Benapole in Jessore on Sunday.
Twelve, including building owner Sohel Rana, his wife and three garment factory owners, were held in connection with the building crash.
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members arrested Sohel Rana from Benapole in Jessore why he was trying to flee to India in the afternoon.
Three garment factory owners and two engineers were remanded on Saturday and Sunday.
The four are Bazlus Samad Adnan, chairman of New Wave Buttons and New Wave Style; Mahmudur Rahman Tapos, managing director of the two garment units; and Aminul Islam, chairman of Phantom Apparels Ltd and Phantom Tac Ltd; Imtemam Hossain, executive engineer of Savar Pourasava, and Alam Mia, assistant engineer of Savar Pourasava. UNB
