Alive! Survivor found in Bangladesh factory 16 days after collapse that killed over 1,000
(Photo: Bangladeshi TV via Reuters TV)
Woman was found trapped in the basement of the building and given water and food as rescuers tried to reach her.
Wonderful news in the midst of an awful event, to be sure — Reshma Begum was trapped in the basement of a collapsed eight-story factory in Bangladesh for a total of 391 hours, but was today rescued into daylight, which she “never dreamed” she’d see again.
Bangladeshi lawyers and protesters chanted “hang him, hang him” on Monday as the owner of a factory building that collapsed last week killing nearly 400 people was led into court dressed in a helmet and bullet-proof jacket, witnesses said.
The drama came as rescue officials said they were unlikely to find more survivors in the rubble of the building that collapsed on Wednesday, burying hundreds of garment workers in the country’s worst industrial accident.
Heavy cranes were being used to lift huge concrete blocks from the wreckage of Rana Plaza, where 385 people are now confirmed to have been killed. The building housed factories making clothes for Western brands.
Eight people have been arrested in connection with last week’s garment factory collapse in Bangladesh, and authorities continue to search for a ninth suspect at this time. The building’s owner was arrested in the town of Benapole, where he is believed to have been looking for a way to flee to neighboring India.
A fire inside a multi-story garment factory outside Dhaka, Bangladesh killed at least 111 people. Most of the workers inside the building died on the first and second floors, where there were not enough exits — and those that did exist did not open to the outside. Bangladesh is the second largest clothes exporter after China, and has a notorious safety record; more than 500 workers have died in factory fires there since 2006. (Photo: Abir Abdullah / EPA via The New York Times)
The factory stricken by this deadly fire was producing clothing for Tazreen Fashion Ltd., which was sold, among other places, at Switzerland’s discount C&A chain.
City Bound: Under a rainy-season sky, migrants take the train back to Dhaka after visiting their home villages north of the capital. On either side are rice fields, healthy here but tainted by salinity farther south. (Jonas Bendiksen)
Beautiful pic. Very evocative.
» And it could’ve been way worse: See, the multi-story factory (located in the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka) housed 10,000 workers, mostly women. Many of them, however, were out to lunch at the time. Whew. For those who weren’t so lucky, though, it was very bad. VERY bad.
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