Property tycoon Sohel Rana (centre) is presented at a press conference at the Rapic Action Battalion (RAB) headquarters in Dhaka yesterday.
SAVAR, Bangladesh: A fire broke out in the rubble of a Bangladesh factory complex yesterday night, killing what the country’s fire chief described as the last remaining survivor from the building’s collapse five days earlier.
“The fire broke out as we were cutting a beam to bring out what we believe was the last remaining survivor from the collapsed building. We managed to douse it, but as we came back we saw her dead,” Ahmed Ali said.
“She was a brave lady and fought until the end. We worked for 10-11 hours today just to try to bring her out alive. We took the challenge but we lost. It’s broken all our hearts. Everyone became emotional,” he said.
Fire fighters were seen weeping live on television after the death.
The female garment worker’s battle for survival had touched the nation as people watched the rescue efforts on television.
The rescue teams had to postpone a decision to clean up the debris with cranes and earth-moving equipment just to make sure it did not harm her chance for survival.
Meanwhile, the owner of a garment factory block that collapsed killing at least 377 people was arrested yesterday.
Property tycoon Sohel Rana was detained as he attempted to cross into India and will face charges. The eight-storey Rana Plaza, like many structures around the capital Dhaka, violated building regulations.
“He is the one most responsible for the accident. The building was declared abandoned. But he forced the garment factories and workers to work on the building,” Rapid Action Battalion chief Mukhlesur Rahman said.
After being arrested at a border crossing with India, Rana was flown back to Dhaka by helicopter and paraded before the press.
At the site of the collapsed building, hundreds of rescuers continued the grim and painstaking task of searching for survivors.
As Rana’s arrest was announced, garment workers and relatives of the missing cheered and began shouting “Hang Rana, Hang the killer!”
Another two people were pulled out alive after daybreak yesterday and later a woman’s feeble cries were detected, with efforts to tunnel through the debris to reach her being beamed live on television as doctors stood by.
By yesterday evening, the confirmed death toll had reached 377, according to Deputy Administrator of Dhaka district, Zillur Rahman Chowdhury.
About 2,500 people have been rescued from the scene of the disaster, some only after undergoing amputations to free them from the pancaked slabs of reinforced concrete.
“We have moved heavy equipment to the site but are still waiting for the clearance from the rescue workers inside the wreckage that no one is trapped alive,” national fire chief Ahmed Ali said at the scene.
Rescuers have been using only hand tools such as cutters and drills, fearing the use of cranes would jeopardise the chances of survival of anyone still clinging on after the accident on Wednesday morning.
As the cranes prepared to get to work, hope was turning to anger amid criticism of the slow pace of efforts, with some experts decrying a lack of coordination in the operation or foreign help.
The tragedy has once again focused attention on the poor safety conditions in the $20bn Bangladeshi garment industry, which is the world’s second biggest after China, supplying many big Western clothing brands.
Britain’s Primark and Spain’s Mango have acknowledged their products were made in the block, while a reporter found shirts labelled “United Colors of Benetton” in the debris.
The Italian group has denied having a supplier in the building.
The accident has prompted fresh accusations from activists that Western firms place profit before safety by sourcing their products from a country where textile workers often earn less than $40 a month. Protesters holding signs reading “Love Fashion Hate Sweatshops” and “Primark’s Shame” picketed Primark’s flagship store in London on Saturday.
As outrage over the country’s worst industrial disaster spread at home and abroad, police have stepped up efforts to find the accused and border officials have been put on the highest alert.
Officials said on Saturday that another multi-storied building belonging to Rana had been sealed off after cracks appeared in its pillars. Police were also hunting for Spanish entrepreneur David Mayor, whose manufacturing company Phantom-Tac operated from Rana Plaza.
Agencies
