General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Bangladesh Army’s 9th Infantry Division Major General Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy, who is supervising the rescue at Savar, appealed in a press conference that such baseless rumours should not be paid heed to.
“Some quarters have alleged that bodies are disappearing. They are fuelling public anger by spreading rumours that actual casualties are unbelievably high,” he said.
Maj-Gen Suhrawardy said these rumours were hindering rescue operations.
“By alleging that bodies are disappearing, this quarter have questioned the patriotism and honesty of the army and all those organisations and volunteers involved in the rescue.” He said this was 'extremely unfortunate'.
The death toll in the Rana Plaza collapse stood at 429 on Thursday morning. It could still rise as rescue continued and the rubble was being cleared.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Wednesday alleged that the actual casualty was being deliberately played down.
On Wednesday, army said the number of those missing was only 149, raising eyebrows everywhere, because even the army could not clarify how it came to such a conclusion.
The army now says 2,437 have been rescued.
On Sunday, without hopes of finding survivors alive rescuers employed heavy machines to clear the rubble and recovered 44 more bodies.
The GOC said rescue and recovery was taking some time as they were trying to bring out the bodies without any damage. “We will not move until the last body is found.”
Bangladesh Army had donated almost Tk 75 million for the Savar victims, equivalent to one day's salary of all its officers and men.
Friday 3 May 2013
http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/05/02/army-challenges-rumours
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