Friday, April 26, 2013

Daughter’s agony as she discovers her mother is among 230 dead in Primark factory

Daughter’s agony as she discovers her mother is among 230 dead in Primark factory, Bangladeshi rescue workers are continuing their increasingly desperate for survivors in a collapsed clothes factory building where workers made cheap clothes for Primark. Hundreds were killed when the eight-storey Rana Plaza in Savar on the outskirts of Dhakar collapsed yesterday, the day after cracks were seen in its walls. The death toll continues to rise and currently stands at more than 230. Forty people have been pulled alive from the rubble today.

There were agonising scenes of grief as relatives lined up to identify corpses laid outside a local school building. One woman screamed in anguish as she reached out to her mother, pulled dead from the heartbreaking scene of destruction.

The daughter of a woman killed in the collapse mourns over her mother's body: At least 194 people were killed when the eight-storey building in Savar on the outskirts of Dhakar collapsed yesterday, after cracks were seen in its walls, and the death toll continues to rise

A youth howls in despair after seeing the dead body of his relative: Many of those working in the building were young women, while some of those killed and injured are bound to be children as the building also housed a crèche

Desolate: A boy tries to restrain a woman beside herself with grief as she reaches for the body of her sister after finding her in the school building where rescuers have laid the bodies of those killed in the disaster

Breakdown: People try to comfort a woman mourning for her dead daughter, who was working in the Rana Plaza when it collapsed yesterday

Others wept and threw themselves onto the still dust-covered bodies of their dead loved ones, who worked for companies that say their customers also include retail giants such as WalMart.

Many of those working in the building at the time were young women, while some of those killed and injured are bound to be children as the building also housed a crèche.

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Hundreds of rescuers, some crawling through the maze of rubble in search of survivors and corpses, have worked through the night amid the cries of the trapped and the wails of workers' relatives gathered outside.

Around 2,000 people have so far been pulled out alive. Doctors at local hospitals said they were unable to cope with the number of victims arriving from the disaster site.

Misery: Yesterday they were used as rescue chutes, but today volunteers use lengths of textiles to slide dead victims from the rubble of the collapsed factory building in Savar, near Dhakar

Heedless to the dangers: Volunteers and rescue workers clamber over the rubble of the building as they try to reach survivors still trapped inside

Bangladeshi firefighters use pneumatic drills to cut through concrete: Hundreds of rescuers, some crawling through the maze of rubble in search of survivors and corpses, have worked through the night

Slow work: Once rescue workers have managed to chip through the strong concrete, they face wire-mesh supports that must be cut through

All in the tropical heat: Volunteers fan fireman digging through the collapsed floors of the Rana Plaza. Survivors could be heard screaming and pleading for help from within

The body of a dead worker is carried from the disaster site: Officials say police had ordered the building evacuated on Tuesday, the day before its deadly collapse, after deep cracks became visible in its walls

Cheap garments: A pair of BM Casual trousers and a Primark Denim Co tag can be seen amid the rubble. Jeans from the latter brand retailed in Primark for as little as £4

This afternoon workers still trapped could be heard crying out for help as firefighters and soldiers using drilling machines and cranes struggled to reach them.

'Save us brother. I beg you brother. I want to live,' moaned Mohammad Altab, a garment worker pinned tightly between two concrete slabs and next to two corpses.

'It's so painful here ... I have two little children,' Altab said, his voice weak from exhaustion. Another survivor, whose voice could be heard from deep in the rubble, wept as he called for help.

'We want to live brother, it's hard to remain alive here. It would have been better to die than enduring such pain to live on. We want to live, please save us,' the man cried.

Rising death toll: A rescue worker comforts a survivor pulled from the rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza building, in Savar, 19 miles outside Dhaka, this morning

Medical emergency: About 2,000 people have so far been rescued from the wrecked eight-storey building and the death toll has so far reached 161

In pain: Many of those working in the building were young women, while some of those killed and injured are bound to be children as the building also housed a crèche

Officials say police had ordered the building evacuated on Tuesday, the day before its deadly collapse, after deep cracks became visible in its walls.

But the factories flouted the order and managers ordered their staff to keep working. Some survivors have said they were threatened with with the sack if they refused to enter the building.

After the cracks were reported, managers of a local bank that also had an office in the building evacuated their workers.

The garment factories, though, kept working, ignoring the instructions of the local industrial police, said Mostafizur Rahman, a director of that paramilitary police force.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had also asked the factories to suspend work starting on Wednesday morning, hours before the collapse.

'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 group's president.

The price of cheap clothes? The building which housed a number of garment factories employing hundreds of people making clothes for the likes of Primark and Matalan came crashing down yesterday morning

Bravery: Firefighters clamber into the collapsed structure as they desperately try to locate and rescue those still trapped inside

Tragedy: At least one worker in the building, which had developed cracks prior to the collapse, has told how they were threatened with the sack if they didn't get to work yesterday morning

A relative of a garment worker checks a body being taken from the site as she searches for her relative: Bangladesh is an important supplier of clothes for cheap - and not-so-cheap - High Street brands

Women mourn for relatives trapped inside the collapsed building: Tens of thousands of people rushed to the site, weeping and desperately searching for family members

A woman cries for her relative who has been pulled dead from the wreckage: The disaster has reignited questions about often lethal conditions in the country's clothing industry

People mourn in front of the remains of their relatives who died inside the rubble: Authorities said the building had violated construction codes with three more floors than permitted

A relative holds a picture of a garment worker who is missing as others file past bodies: Police and the government's Capital Development Authority have filed cases of negligence against the building owner

Today the smell of rotting bodies wafted through holes cut into the building. Junior minister for Home Affairs, Shamsul Haque, said a total of 2,000 people had so far been rescued from the wreckage.

Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is overseeing army rescue teams, said the death toll had climbed to 194.

Dozens of bodies, their faces covered, were laid outside a local school building so relatives could identify them.

Thousands of workers' family members gathered outside the building, waiting for news, as thousands of garment workers from nearby factories took to the streets across the industrial zone in protest.

General Shikder said rescue operations were progressing slowly. He said rescue teams were standing by with heavy equipment and would 'start bulldozing the debris once we get closer to the end of the operation.

'But now we are careful,' he added

He also said the size of the crowd was interfering with getting more rescuers to the scene.

'We are ready with about 1,000 soldiers and rescue workers from other departments. But a huge crowd is obstructing our effort,' he said.

The garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers but it was not clear how many were in the building when it collapsed.

Escape: Rescuers used massive strips of cloth as escape chutes from the textile factories to help the workers escape the devastation after the eight-storey building collapsed in Bangladesh

Destroyed: The building housed several garment factories and collapsed near Bangladesh's capital yesterday, killing at least 149 people and trapping many more in the rubble

Business: Matalan also took orders from one of the factories in the building until two months ago

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, as he prepared to again work late into the night.

Sumi, a 25-year-old worker who goes by one name, said she was sewing jeans on the fifth floor with at least 400 others when the building fell.

'It collapsed all of a sudden,' she said. 'No shaking, no indication. It just collapsed on us.' She said she managed to reach a hole in the building where rescuers pulled her out.

The disaster has reignited questions about often lethal conditions in the country's clothing industry, which is an important supplier of clothes for cheap - and not-so-cheap - High Street brands.

It came less than five months after a factory fire killed 112 people and underscored the unsafe conditions faced by Bangladesh's garment workers.

Rescue: Brig. Gen. Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder said 149 people have been confirmed dead and another 600 survivors had been rescued

Terrifying: A distressed woman is seen going down the temporary escape - fire fighters and army personnel worked frantically through the morning at the Rana Plaza building in Savar

Grim: Rescue workers use clothes to bring down survivors and bodies after the collapse

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,' Mr Rahim said. The next thing he remembers is regaining consciousness outside.

Survivor Shaheena Akhter, 23, said: 'Some of us did not want to work fearing something might happen, but the garment factory people told us that we had to join our work otherwise we will lose our jobs.'

Bangladeshi home minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir told reporters on a visit to the site that 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 stories illegally.

Local police chief Mohammed Asaduzzaman said police and the government's Capital Development Authority have filed separate cases of negligence against the building owner.

Habibur Rahman, police superintendent of Dhaka district, identified the owner as Mohammed Sohel Rana, a local leader of ruling Awami League's youth front. Mr Rahman said police were also looking for the owners of the garment factories.

Escape: Bangladeshi garment workers use lengths of material to evacuate from the rubble

At least 83 die in Bangladesh building collapse

Safety: Buildings in the crowded city of Dhaka are sometimes erected without permission and many do not comply with construction regulations. Dozens died when a garment factory collapsed in the same area eight years ago

'It looks like an earthquake has struck here,' said one resident as he looked on at the chaotic scene of smashed concrete

Collapse: The building near Bangladesh's capital housed several garment factories and was likely to be packed

Medical help: A garment worker who was trapped under the rubble is carried to safety by a rescuer

Punish: Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir told reporters during a visit to the site that the building had violated construction codes and 'the culprits would be punished'

Among the textile businesses in the building were Phantom Apparels, New Wave Style, New Wave Bottoms and New Wave Brothers.

According to its website, the New Wave companies make clothing for major brands including U.S. retailers The Children's Place and Dress Barn, Britain's Primark, Spain's Mango and Italy's Benetton.

Mango and Benetton denied any links to the building's factories, but Primark confirmed that one of the suppliers it uses to produce some of its goods was located on the second floor.

The firm said it was 'shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling incident'.

It added that it has been working with other retailers to review the country's approach to factory standards and will push for this review to include building integrity.

Primark's ethical trade team is working to collect information, assess which communities the workers come from and provide support 'where possible', the company said.

Race against time: Firefighters and soldiers using drilling machines and cranes worked together with local volunteers in the search for other survivors from the building, which pancaked onto itself and stood only about two stories tall

The collapse stirred memories of a fatal fire in a garment factory in November that killed 112 people and raised an outcry about safety in the nation's garment industry

Packed: The collapse happened about 8:30 a.m. and since garment factories in the area routinely work 24 hours a day, it appeared likely that the four housed in the building were staffed at the time

Search: Tens of thousands of people gathered at the site, some of them weeping survivors, some searching for family members

Risky: Hundreds of people could be seen clambering around the unsafe site in a desperate bid to find survivors yesterday morning

Devastated: A woman cries on the site of the damaged building as she watches the rescue operation

Business: 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

Anxious wait: Relative and friends arrived at the site holding pictures of missing garment workers in an attempt to locate them

Anxious wait: It is not clear what caused the collapse but local media reports said a crack was detected in the block on Tuesday

Concern: People mourn for their relatives, who are trapped inside the rubble - thousands of people descended on the site

Charles Kernaghan, executive director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, which has an office in Dhaka, says his staff are investigating.

He hopes his team, working with local workers' groups, will be able to find out which brands were having their products made at the time of the collapse.

'You can't trust many buildings in Bangladesh,' Mr Kernaghan said. 'It's so corrupt that you can buy off anybody and there won't be any retribution.'

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