Bangladesh collapse search over; death toll 1,127

BANGLADESH: Nearly three weeks after a Bangladesh garment-factory building collapsed, the search for the dead ended on Monday at the site of the worst disaster in the history of the global garment industry. The death toll: 1,127.

Mohammed Amir Hossain Mazumder, deputy director of fire service and civil defense, said the search for bodies from the April 24 collapse was called off at 6pm (1200GMT). "Now the site will be handed over to police for protection. There will be no more activities from fire service or army," he said.

Bulldozers and other vehicles have been removed from the building site, which will be fenced with bamboo sticks. Red flags have been erected around the site to bar entry.

The last body was found on Sunday night. A special prayer service will be held on Tuesday to honor the dead, said army Brig. Gen. Mohammad Siddiqul Alam Shikder.

For more than 19 days Rana Plaza had been the scene of frantic rescue efforts, anguished families and the overwhelming smell of decaying flesh.

Miracles were few, but on Friday, search teams found Reshma Begum, a seamstress who survived under the rubble for 17 days on dried food and bottled and rain water.

On Monday, the government agreed to allow the country's garment workers to form trade unions without permission from factory owners as part of growing concessions for industry reform.

Bangladesh is the third-biggest exporter of clothes in the world, after China and Italy. There are 5,000 factories in the country and 3.6 million garment workers.

But working conditions in the $20 billion industry are grim, a result of government corruption, desperation for jobs, and industry indifference. Minimum wages for garment workers are among the lowest in the world at 3,000 takas ($38) a month.

The Rana Plaza owner and eight other people, including garment factory owners, have been detained in the collapse investigation. Authorities say the building owner added floors to the structure illegally and allowed the factories to install heavy equipment that the building was not designed to support.

The Cabinet decision to allow trade unions came a day after the government announced a plan to raise the minimum wage for garment workers. Both moves are seen as a direct response to the collapse of the building, which housed five garment factories.

DECCAN HERALD