Search for survivors of Bangladeshi factory collapse continues

Hundreds of emergency personnel have worked through the night to clear debris at the site of a Bangladeshi factory collapse which has claimed seven lives.

Rescue workers take part in the rescue operation after the roof of a building which was under construction collapsed at an army-run cement factory near Mongla port, southern Bangladesh (EPA/STRINGER)

Rescue workers take part in the rescue operation after the roof of a building which was under construction collapsed at an army-run cement factory near Mongla port, southern Bangladesh (EPA/STRINGER)

Rescuers are continuing to search for survivors in the rubble of a factory collapse in Bangladesh, in which at least seven people have been killed.

The disaster has sparked fresh criticism of the country's appalling workplace safety record.

Hundreds of soldiers and emergency personnel had worked through the night to clear debris from the site of the half-built cement factory in the port town of Mongla, senior local administrator Shah Alam Sarder said on Friday.

Twelve people were plucked alive from the rubble but rescuers, who were using two cranes as well as steel cutters, were having to work slowly for fear of triggering a fresh collapse.

Six bodies have been recovered so far and another is visible under the debris. At least 53 people are injured, including six whose conditions are critical.

More than 90 staff were on the site when the structure started to cave in on Thursday afternoon, trapping scores of workers under a mass of newly-mixed concrete and steel.

"We're trying to reach the seventh body by cutting through a maze of steel but it's taking hours because any mis-step could trigger a collapse, fire department director Sheikh Mizanur Rahman said.

Local police chief Jahedur Rahman said up to 10 people remained unaccounted for.

However, fire officials doubted whether any more workers would be found, saying more than 80 per cent of the debris had been cleared.

The collapse comes less than two years after a garment factory complex imploded outside the capital Dhaka, leaving at least 1138 people dead and highlighting Bangladesh's perilous labour conditions.

While that disaster did prompt some improvements and greater monitoring of safety in the garment industry, campaigners say conditions in other workplaces remain as dangerous as ever.


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Source: AAP


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