At least 350 garments workers have been found dead and thousands others injured as an 8-storied building–Rana Plaza–collapsed in Savar bus stand area of Dhaka on Wednesday morning.
The rescue team identified some 341 bodies and handed over to family and relatives till 09:10pm Saturday.
Death toll may rise as many others were still trapped in the collapsed building. Police and hospital sources confirmed the matter to banglanews.
Army, RAB, police, fire service personnel and locals were conducting rescue mission. There were few garments and shops in the building.
UPDATE-21, 09:00pm: Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) director Shahidul Islam confirmed the death toll.
UPDATE-20, 01:15pm: Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed the
death toll.
Besides, two garment-owners, two engineers and building owner Rana’s wife and his 3 relatives were held over the collapse.
The district administration on Friday night published a list of the killed and injured people in collapse. The list has names of 221 deceased and 880 injured people with phone numbers and permanent and present addresses.
Thousands of agitated readymade garments workers again went berserk and locked into clashes with law enforcers in the capital and Savar in the morning.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) decided to keep all garments closed for Saturday and Sunday.
UPDATE-19, 8:47am Saturday: Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) department, in a press briefing said that a total of 2,375 alive were rescued alive.
Amongst them, seven alive were recovered around 6:00am Saturday from the debris.
The bodies are being taken at Adharchandra Scool ground while the injured to Enam Medical College Hospital.
UPDATE-18, 5:20pm: Confirming the death toll, Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) director Shahidul Islam told banglanews that 20 bodies and 72 alive were recovered on Friday.The total numbers of recovered people are 2353.
UPDATE-17, 03:30pm: Source in Dhaka district control office at Adharchandra School ground confirmed the death toll.
In the latest development, Readymade garments workers called a daylong strike for Sunday to press home their 7-point demand including punishment of the owners of Rana Plaza and compensation to the victims of the tragedy.
UPDATE-16, 11:00am: Death toll rose to 290 and 262 bodies were handed over to families, Savar Thana Officer-in-Charge Asaduzzaman confirmed banglanews.
Agitated relatives hurled brick chips at law enforcers as police put barricade at a distance and didn’t allow anyone to go closer to the wrecked Rana Plaza. Police also fired tear shells to take the situation under control.
The workers of readymade garment (RMG) factories in Gazipur on Friday blocked Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways in the morning demanding trial of Sohel Rana, owner of collapsed Rana Plaza.
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith visited the spot on Friday morning and said, “Along with hartal, these types of incidents are also terrible shock for the garments sector.”At least 30 people were injured when they heard sound of cracking in the building beside wrecked Rana Plaza and ran to and fro for safety.
Witnesses said that rescuers, volunteers and journalists were busy in rescue mission in the morning. At 9:30am, they heard sound of cracking from the RS Tower, building beside Rana Plaza. They started running for safety, leaving at least 30 of them injured.
Update-15, 08:48am Friday: On duty officers of Dhaka District Control room set up at Adharchandra School confirmed banglanews that the death toll jumped to 275 and 256 bodies were handed over to the family members.
Around 48 hours after the collapse of 8-storey building, 42 trapped people were rescued alive from the debris.
Ninth Infantry Division GOC Chowdhury Hasan Sohrawardi said, “The rescue operation will continue till Friday as the possibility of living will be reduced who trapped in the wreckage. So, we will conduct operations to recover bodies after Friday.”
A fire broke out on the wreckage of the collapsed building– Rana Plaza, Savar, at 10:35pm on Thursday night.Spot account said the fire originated at the sixth floor of the wrecked building when someone tried to pour petrol in a generator, used in rescue mission.
