DHAKA: Families of Bangladesh textile workers killed in the Rana Plaza tragedy started submitting claims for compensation yesterday, 11 months after the disaster that killed more than 1,100 people.
The first batch of 22 claims were filed with officials overseeing a $40m compensation fund, made up of donations from leading Western retailers in the wake of the country’s worst textile disaster.
Wahid Soruar, a Bangladesh official overseeing the claims process from the industrial area of Savar outside the capital, said all families of the dead workers and those injured would be paid in coming months.
“We’ve launched the claims processing today. Hopefully, claims for all 3,600 survivors and beneficiaries will be processed within three to four months,” Soruar said.
All families will receive a minimum 50,000 taka ($650) by April 24, the first anniversary of the tragedy, as an advance payment on their total compensation claims, said the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which is backing the fund.
AFP
