Death toll of Bangladesh building collapse reaches 435

Dhaka, May 2: The

toll has risen up to 435 with the recovery of about a dozen bodies as rescuers continued to search for bodies under the debris a building

on the outskirts of Dhaka.

Nine days into the Bangladesh's worst industrial tragedy, rescuers still believe there might have many more bodies in the wreckage of the collapsed building though they have no hopes of finding people alive.

"A total of 429 bodies have so far been pulled out of the collapsed building," Major General Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardi of Bangladesh Army's Nine Infantry Division told reporters at the disaster site. He said they are now putting their efforts to pull out manually six more bodies which were spotted Thursday as the rescuers with cranes and other heavy equipment have been removing huge concrete slabs and chunks of debris.

The EU said it was "very concerned" about labour conditions in Bangladesh. Thousands of Bangladeshi textile factories on Thursday resumed work following an eight-day shutdown after the building collapsed on April 24. Workers in and around the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka returned to duty after the trade group that represents the garment industry decided it was safe to resume work.

The accident is considered one of the deadliest industrial disasters in the country.

"We'll never leave the accident site until recovery of the last body," said the leader of the entire rescue operations. Of the bodies, he said 374 have so far been handed over to their relatives.

According to Chowdhury, the rescuers have pulled alive 2,437 people after the eight-storey building Rana Plaza crumbled.

The disaster has provoked calls across the world for improvements in the condition for workers supplying the garment trade. Retailers in Canada have even agreed to develop a new set of trade guidelines.

Meanwhile clothing store chain Primark has said that it will pay compensation and offer emergency food aid to victims of the factory collapse who worked for its supplier.

Mohammed Sohel Rana, the owner of the building, has been arrested by the police.

OneIndia News