87 Dead in Bangladesh Garment Factory Collapse

An eight-story building housing several garment factories collapsed near Bangladesh's capital on Wednesday, killing at least 87 people and trapping many more under a jumbled mess of concrete. Rescuers tried to cut through the debris with earthmovers, drilling machines and their bare hands.

Less than five months after a factory fire killed 112 people, the disaster again underscored the unsafe conditions in Bangladesh's massive garment industry. Workers said they hesitated to go to work Wednesday because the building had developed such severe cracks the previous day that it had been reported on local news channels.

ABC News

The collapse stirred memories of a fatal fire at a garment factory in November that killed 112 people and raised an outcry about safety in the nation’s $20 billion-a-year textile industry, which produces clothing for global fashion brands worn around the world.

Workers in the Rana Plaza building said it had developed such severe cracks the day before that it had been reported on local news channels. They hesitated to enter the building Wednesday morning, said Abdur Rahim, who worked in a garment factory on the fifth floor.

But a manager from the factory assured them there was no problem, so they went inside, he said.

“We started working. After about an hour or so the building collapsed suddenly,” he said. He next remembered regaining consciousness outside the building.

Among the businesses in the building were Phantom Apparels Ltd., New Wave Style Ltd., New Wave Bottoms Ltd. and New Wave Brothers Ltd. garment factories, companies that make clothing for brands including Benetton, The Children’s Place and Dress Barn. Workers said they didn’t know what specific clothing brands were being made in the building because labels are attached after the products are finished.

Salon

Typically 1 garment sold by any of these companies is more than a garment workers entire monthly wages. I wish people would start thinking about what consumerism actually means and what the true cost is. Substandard living, unsafe working conditions, abuse...

These companies in so many ways tell us exactly how much they value human life. First by telling Americans we aren't worth decent wages and benefits, we're too greedy for them to operate here so they have to manufacture elsewhere. Then they tell people in elsewhere countries like India, China, Africa that they aren't worth decent wages or safe, healthy working environments.

We give our consent with our dollars, I think it's long past time for us to encourage these psychopaths to pack up and make room for companies that give a damn about humanity.

i guess that they will hit up the consumers of their products to pay off those injured and killed again?

if i was a merchandise buyer i think i would just stop buying anything from that country for fear of them trying to hold their consumers libel for their incompitance.

reply to post by Kali74


Firstly, I think this thread will more than likely die out!

Secondly, I find it disgusting that these Factories still run.

As you say, they get forced into working in these conditions for next to nothing, the ring masters dont care at all, only care about making their cash while the slaves only get about £3 per day.

I can only say that I'm glad I wasn't born over there...

Update:

At least 187 killed in this collapse. Many people are still trapped and over 1000 injured. The toll might rise much higher.

Survivors from a building that collapsed in Bangladesh killing at least 187 mainly women workers described hearing a deafening crack before the complex housing factories supplying Western clothes retailers crashed down in a matter of seconds.

Local residents helped pull survivors from the twisted wreckage of the eight-storey Rana Plaza building in Savar, 30 km (20 miles) outside the capital Dhaka, which collapsed on Wednesday. More than 1,000 people were injured.

"An unspecified number of victims are still trapped," said Mizanur Rahman, a rescue worker with the fire brigade, as he clambered over the wreckage. "We can't be certain of getting them all out alive. We are losing a bit of hope."

Dhaka's district police chief Habibur Rahman said the death toll could rise further.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Mohammad Atiqul Islam said there were 3,122 workers in the factories on Wednesday. He said there had been indications from local officials that cracks had been found in the building the day before.

"We asked the garment owners to keep it closed," Islam said.

Rana Plaza's owner had told proprietors of the building's five garment factories that the cracks were not dangerous, Islam added. "After getting the green signal from the plaza owner all the garment factories opened," he said.

www.reuters.com...

The owner should get death sentence for it... Prioritising profits over the safety of the workers. Hundreds of innocent people died or got injured because of the greed of the owners. Such thing is simply intolerable.

I hope that the people trapped will be rescued in time.

Originally posted by generik
i guess that they will hit up the consumers of their products to pay off those injured and killed again?

if i was a merchandise buyer i think i would just stop buying anything from that country for fear of them trying to hold their consumers libel for their incompitance.

Unfortunately, most of our clothing is now made this way and if you were a buyer you would have no choice except to quit your job.

The 'Fast Fashion' model was introduced about 10 years ago and it is purely profit drive, using marketing to convince people they NEED more and more clothing. The average Fast Fashion garment is designed to be worn 10 times then thrown away. The only way to produce so many garments is to have people in the developing world work in these conditions and as is reported pay with their lives!? The consumer just shrugs and continues to support the cycle.

I've become aware of 'Slow Fashion' recently, it's about producing quality clothing and supporting local jobs and workers, a good alternative model to Fast Fashion but one that could only work if consumers change their behaviour and stop ignoring the effects their clothing choice has!

www.notjustalabel.com...

Thanks for the replies and updates. How you buy your clothes, or how you consume in general may seem like a small thing, but it's huge... profit motivation drives the planet and we with our dollars can change how profit is made.

reply to post by Kali74


I really hate bringing an update like this to a thread ...but 87 was only the start. I was stunned speechless for a moment when I caught this across breaking news. Umm.. WOW... These poor people?!

The death toll rose to 413 in the collapse of a building in Bangladesh, as rescuers found more bodies in the rubble on Wednesday, the authorities said.

More than 600 people were still unaccounted for eight days after the accident, and many bodies were feared trapped in the rubble.

WTH?! That's just staggering. One collapse. One industrial accident, basically ....and it could be over 1,000 people?? Sweat Shop doesn't start to cover that. It was a sardine like work environment by the sound of things. Then I got to the end ..and lost my train of thought again. (Read: Brain Freeze moment)

Bangladesh is under pressure to meet international labour standards for its garment industry, which accounts for 79% of the country's export earnings.

Source

I knew that country was very heavily based in this industry ..but 79%? No nation should be THAT heavily focused on just one industry. It's not healthy. Literally. It makes support and cover of those running the businesses a true national security concern for the Government, doesn't it? Definitely not a healthy place to be, IMO.

Well, as luck, or not, would have itone of the two owners of the clothing company is a guy from the town where i live, Reus, in Spain...his offices are in a apartament, not an office block, so he was running things from home.

The funny thing is the local guold of empresas and the local council have never heard of him or his businesses....so it looks like this guy, David Mayor, isnt even registered as a business over here, or its not in his name.

Either way...he's on the run..The links in Catalan, but the photo good..so if you see him..

However, the police here in Spain say theres no international order out for his arrest...so that'll give him time to dig a bigger hole to hide in..

David Mayor...dubios businessman and in hiding