Building collapse kills 32 in Bangladesh

The Bangladeshi army says at least 32 people have been killed in the collapse of an eight-storey commercial building in the capital Dhaka.

Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder said that another 600 survivors had been rescued from the building after it collapsed today.

The building housed several garment factories.

Many more people are feared trapped in the rubble, officials said.

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

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.

Bangladesh, which has about 4,000 garment factories, exports clothes to leading Western retailers.

The collapse happened at about 8.30am 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.

Firefighters and soldiers using drilling machines and cranes worked together with local volunteers in the search for other survivors from the building, which collapsed onto itself and stood only about two storeys tall.