Building collapse toll nears 150

The death toll from a building collapse in Bangladesh has risen to 149 as rescuers worked to find more people trapped in the rubble, officials said.

There are still “many” people trapped and a clearer picture of the rescue operation should emerge later, according to army Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is overseeing the rescue operation.

Nearly 100 bodies have been handed over to their families.

The eight-storey building near the capital Dhaka housed mainly garment factories. It collapsed yesterday, a day after workers said large cracks had developed in the structure.

Police and the government’s Capital Development Authority have filed separate cases of negligence against the building owner, said local police chief Mohammaed Asaduzzaman.

Less than five months after a factory fire killed 112 people, the disaster again underscored the unsafe conditions in Bangladesh’s massive garment industry.

Workers said they hesitated to go to work because the building had developed such large cracks the previous day that it had been reported on local news channels.

Abdur Rahim, who worked on the fifth floor, said a factory manager assured them there was no problem, so they went inside.

“We started working. After about an hour or so the building collapsed suddenly,” he said. He next remembered regaining consciousness outside the building.

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.

Workers said they did not know what specific clothing brands were being produced in the building because labels are attached after the products are finished.

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 through which rescuers pulled her out.

Tens of thousands of people gathered at the site, some of them weeping survivors, some searching for family members. Firefighters and soldiers using drilling machines and cranes worked with local volunteers in the search for survivors.

An enormous section of the concrete structure appeared to have splintered like twigs. Colourful sheets of fabric were tied to upper floors of the wreckage so those inside could climb or slide down and escape.

The building, in the Dhaka suburb of Savar, housed a bank and various shops in addition to the garment factories.