Building owner goes on the run as death toll reaches 260

Survivors from a garment factory that collapsed in Bangladesh killing at least 260 people described 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, 30km outside the capital Dhaka, using crowbars and their bare hands in sweltering heat. More than 1,000 people were injured.