At least 149 people have been killed after a building construction in Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed on April 24, 2013. The recent incident has resulted in widespread uprising against retailers and clothing companies to ensure the safety of their workers. Teams of firefighters and army workers were working on Thursday morning under floodlights with industrial cutters and cranes to rescue people who were screaming from inside the wreckage for help.
Ahmed Ali, the national fire department chief said, “The whole building collapsed like a pancake within minutes. Most workers did not have any chance to escape”. Ali added that they could still hear faint cries from inside the rubble, where people are still trapped.
Low-cost British clothing chain Primark and Canadian cloth company Joe Fresh said on Wednesday that their suppliers made garments at the factory, which has now collapsed. Both these companies have now vowed to improve the working conditions in Bangladesh. The incident has now put a black mark on the safety record of Bangladesh.
Earlier, fire broke out at a plant producing garments for the companies, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. which killed at least 100 people in the month of November. Since the year 2005, more than 700 garment workers have died in Bangladesh.
