Death Toll Passes 100 in Bangladesh Garment Factory Collapse
"Bangladesh is tragically known for its lack of proper building codes combined with out-of-control graft," Charles Kernaghan and Barbara Briggs with the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights reported.
Charles Kernaghan and Barbara Briggs with the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights in Washington, D.C., reported the death toll has reached 105 in the April 24 collapse of a eight-story building in Bangladesh housing garment factories. "Our staff are on the ground. The garment workers saw the crack yesterday and refused to work. A Savar subdistrict officer came and told the owners that the building was unsafe. This morning the factory owners told the workers that 'some cracks will not be a problem.' They ordered the workers back to work. The factory collapsed an hour later," the two reported.
Named Rana Plaza, the building is in the Savar neighborhood on the outskirts of Dhaka. An estimated 1,000 workers are injured, and there were about 2,500 workers in the Rana Plaza building, 600 of whom had been rescued as of noon EDT. But many people remain trapped in the rubble.
They reported four garment factories were housed in the building: New Wave Style, Ether Tex, Canton Tech Apparel, and New Wave Bottoms.
"Our staff found worker ID cards in the rubble and are praying that the workers are safe. Bangladesh is tragically known for its lack of proper building codes combined with out-of-control graft. It is the workers who pay the ultimate price. Another 70 garment workers were killed in the same area in Savar in 2005 when another multiple-story garment factory collapsed. Our Bangladesh staff is on the ground at the collapsed factory and we will continue to put out more updates," Kernaghan and Briggs reported.