Rescuers recovered 11 bodies and a torso from the site of collapsed Rana Plaza on Thursday while moving out the rubble using heavy machineries. With the addition, the death toll hits 442.
Eyewitnesses and rescuers said that the heat is causing the bodies still stuck in the rubble to decompose fast and most of those recovered bodies were hardly recognisable.
No survivors were found after the army rolled out heavy equipment, four days into the collapse on April 24. The eight-story building, which housed five garments factories, a shopping mall and the branch of a private bank, caved-in a day after a number of its pillars and floors developed cracks.
The number of rescued workers remains at 2,437. However, seven of them have died while under treatment, lowering the number of survivors in the catastrophe to 2,430.
Of the bodies recovered 384 were handed over to their relatives while 32 unidentified bodies were buried at Juraine graveyard. Several hundreds attended the mass funeral organised for them.
Over 80 additional graves have been prepared, with authorities expecting a rise in the number of unclaimed dead bodies.
Rescuers said that they believe unaccounted and decomposing bodies still remain buried under the sandwiched building, which would be uncovered as they go deeper into the rubble. The stench of decomposing bodies is increasing day by day and rescuers have been forced to use facemasks and spray air-fresheners to block out the smell.
When asked about how much time it would take to remove the slabs and pillars, Maj Gen Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy of the 9th Infantry Division of Bangladesh Army, who are running the rescue, said: “It is a delicate and time-consuming operation, but we are doing everything we can to ensure that we can recover the bodies unmutilated.”
Rescuers estimate that the building turned into 600 tons of rubble, of which 350 tons has been removed.
However, the number of missing people is still unclear. Suhrawardy said that 149 people have been listed so far. “However, it might be longer as we are still developing the list with the help of related organisations.”
The rescue operation chief also expressed dissatisfaction and said that the platform of garment factory owners, BGMEA, is not helping with the list.
Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) Director Shaheenul Islam said that the government will rehabilitate the victims and that Izaz Kaikobad, a rescuer who was injured, was taken to Singapore for treatment.
He also refuted allegations of concealing dead bodies and said that there is no scope of hiding bodies as they are being handed over to the administration as soon as they are pulled out of the rubble.
The armed forces spokesperson also called for not making undesirable comments over the rescue operation, as any such remark from a responsible person of the country will hurt rescuers and relatives of the victims as well.
Meanwhile, hundreds of anxious relatives are still looking for their missing loved ones at a nearby school ground, which has been serving as a place to keep the bodies initially so relatives could identify them.
Amena Begum has been looking for her husband, 41-year old Manju, who worked at the Rana Plaza. She said that she had visited all the hospitals, both in Savar and Dhaka, where the injured and the dead have been taken to look for the father of three. “At least give me his dead body” was all she had to say.
Saturday 4 May 2013
http://dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2013/may/03/12-bodies-recovered-ninth-day
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