Little hope for survivors in Bangladesh building collapse

Rescuers in Bangladesh gave up hopes of finding any more survivors in the remains of a building that collapsed five days ago.

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SAVAR, BANGLADESH // Rescuers in Bangladesh gave up hopes of finding any more survivors in the remains of a building that collapsed five days ago.

The workers began using heavy machinery to dislodge the rubble and look for bodies, mostly of workers in garment factories there.

In renewed anger against conditions in garment factories, a mainstay of the economy, hundreds of workers poured into the streets in the Dhaka suburb of Ashulia and set fire to an ambulance, Independent TV, a private network, reported.

They also tried to set fire to a factory. Authorities shut down all garment factories in Ashulia and Gazipur industrial suburbs, including one that had reportedly developed cracks and was evacuated earlier.

At least 381 people were killed when the illegally constructed, eight-story Rana Plaza collapsed in a heap on Wednesday along with thousands of workers in the five garment factories in the building. About 2,500 survivors have been accounted for. The building owner, Mohammed Sohel Rana, was arrested yesterday in the western border town of Benapole while he was trying to flee to India.

The collapse was the deadliest disaster to hit the garment industry in Bangladesh that is worth Dh73.4 billion annually and supplies global retailers.