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RESCUERS TRIED TO free dozens of people believed trapped in the concrete rubble after an eight-story building that housed garment factories collapsed, killing at least 87.
Workers had complained about cracks in the structure before it came tumbling down, but were assured it was safe.
Searchers cut holes in the jumbled mess of concrete with drills or their bare hands, passing water and flashlights to those pinned inside the building near Bangladesh’s capital of Dhaka.
“I gave them whistles, water, torchlights. I heard them cry. We can’t leave them behind this way,” said fire official Abul Khayer. Rescue operations illuminated by floodlights continued through the night.
The disaster came less than five months after a factory fire killed 112 people and underscored the unsafe conditions in Bangladesh’s massive garment industry.
Large cracks
Workers said they had hesitated to go to into the building on this morning because it had developed such large cracks a day earlier that it even drew the attention of local news channels.
Abdur Rahim, who worked on the fifth floor, said a factory manager gave assurances that there was no problem, so employees went inside.
“After about an hour or so, the building collapsed suddenly,” Rahim said. He next remembered regaining consciousness outside.
Construction codes
On a visit to the site, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir told reporters the building had violated construction codes and “the culprits would be punished.”
Among the textile businesses in the building were Phantom Apparels Ltd., New Wave Style Ltd., New Wave Bottoms Ltd. and New Wave Brothers Ltd., which make clothing for major brands including The Children’s Place, Dress Barn, and The Cato Corp.
Jane Singer, a spokeswoman for The Children’s Place, said that “while one of the garment factories located in the building complex has produced apparel for The Children’s Place, none of our product was in production at the time of this accident.”
“Our deepest sympathies go out to the victims of this terrible tragedy and their families,” Singer said in a statement.
Dress Barn said that to its knowledge, it had “not purchased any clothing from that facility since 2010. We work with suppliers around the world to manufacture our clothing, and have a supply chain transparency program to protect the rights of workers and their safety.”
Officials at The Cato Corp. couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Penneys
Penneys confirmed that one of the suppliers it uses to produce some of its goods was located on the second floor of the building.
In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, Primark said it was “shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling incident.” It added that it has been working with other retailers to review the country’s approach to factory standards and will now push for this review to include building integrity.
Meanwhile, Primark’s ethical trade team is working to collect information, assess which communities the workers come from, and to provide support “where possible.”
Spanish retailer Mango denied reports it was using any of the suppliers in the building. However, in an email statement to the AP, it said that there had been conversations with one of them to produce a batch of test products.
Kevin Gardner, a spokesman at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the second-largest clothing producer in Bangladesh, said the company is investigating to see if a factory in the building was currently producing for the chain.
“We remain committed and are actively engaged in promoting stronger safety measures, and that work continues,” Gardner added.
Workers said they didn’t know what specific clothing brands were being produced in the building because labels are attached after the products are finished.
Charles Kernaghan, executive director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, which has an office in nearby Dhaka, says his staff is investigating the situation. He’s hoping his team, working with local workers’ groups, will be able to find out which brands were having their products made at the time of the collapse.
Corrupt
“You can’t trust many buildings in Bangladesh,” Kernaghan said. “It’s so corrupt that you can buy off anybody and there won’t be any retribution.”
Sumi, a 25-year-old worker who goes by one name, said she was sewing jeans on the fifth floor with at least 400 others when the building fell.
“It collapsed all of a sudden,” she said. “No shaking, no indication. It just collapsed on us.”
She said she managed to reach a hole in the building where rescuers pulled her out.
Reports suggested the death toll was likely to rise.
“We sent two people inside the building, and we could rescue at least 20 people alive. They also told us that at least 100 to 150 people are injured and about 50 dead people are still trapped inside this floor,” said Mohammad Humayun, a supervisor at one of the garment factories.
Tens of thousands of people gathered at the site, weeping and searching for family members. Firefighters and soldiers with drilling machines and cranes worked with volunteers to search for survivors.
An enormous section of the concrete structure appeared to have splintered like twigs. Colorful sheets of fabric were tied to upper floors so those inside could climb or slide down and escape.
Rescuers carried the body of a young boy from the building, but it was not immediately clear what he had been doing inside. The building, in the Dhaka suburb of Savar, housed a bank and various shops in addition to the garment factories.
An arm jutted out of one section of the rubble. A lifeless woman covered in dust could be seen in another.
Rahim said his mother and father, who worked with him in the factory, were trapped inside.
‘I can’t find him’
Mosammat Khurshida wailed as she looked for her husband. “He came to work in the morning. I can’t find him,” she said. “I don’t know where he is. He does not pick up his phone.”
Zahidur Rahman, a spokesman for Enam Medical College and Hospital, said Wednesday evening that 87 people had been confirmed dead. Brig. Gen. Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder said 600 people had been rescued.
The morgue of the medical college echoed with the sobs of people waiting for the bodies of their loved ones. “Where’s my mother? Where’s my mother? Tell me, tell me, oh Allah, oh Allah!” Rana Ahmed cried.
The November fire at the Tazreen garment factory drew international attention to working conditions in Bangladesh’s $20 billion-a-year textile industry. The country has about 4,000 garment factories and exports clothes to leading Western retailers. The industry wields vast power in the South Asian nation.
Tazreen lacked emergency exits, and its owner said only three floors of the eight-story building were legally built. Surviving employees said gates had been locked and managers had told them to go back to work after the fire alarm went off.
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Everything about this story, is what is so wrong is this world..
is a world where poor people are not exploited in order to provide richer people with cheap goods too much to ask for?
Simon, rich people shop at penneys?
Yeah rich people shop at penneys. Not millionaires but people who earn more than a few dollars a day working in sweatshops are rich in comparison.
To have cheap goods the consequence is cheap labour with poor conditions . Cant have it everyway
Most people who shop at Penneys are not rich. However, the people who shop at Penneys are sold cheap goods produced out of pure, naked exploitation.
The people who make the profit from stores like Penneys have an interest in a) raising the demand for cheap goods at one end; and b) lowering labour and production costs at the other end.
Therefore this is not primarily, or simply, a matter of consumer choice: this is a matter of forcing consumers to depend on cheap goods on the one hand -by driving down their wages- and forcing producers to make cheap goods on the other -by driving down their wages and undermining their working conditions, including their safety standards. This means that the exploitation of workers in Ireland and in Bangladesh is far more intimately linked than appearances suggest.
I was watching it on the news.
Horrific,just horrific.
Seems to be people still trapped in the rubble.
May the dead rest in peace and the survivors be rescued quick.
Really shocking. Poor people. Things really have to change in the fashion/ clothing industry. I would be happier to pay a bit extra for ethically produced clothing
I try to avoid Penneys. Unfortunately there are lots more companies exploiting the cheap labour in the third world countries.
Unfortunately a lot industries are like that Philip very sad what happened here its a disgrace. Its shocking how big companies like this just care about maximizing profits and not for the people who have no choice but to work for them.
Marco: oh boy and where do you think much more expensive brands produce their clothes in Dublin 4 Ballsbridge? Everyone supplies from Far East, difference is Penneys does bigger quantities and this lower per item margins than Zara or even yet more expensive brands…so you can avoid Penneys all you want chances are all your clothes will be still made in Bangladesh or China.
The death toll rose to 206 ATM … Thousands of ppl still under the rubble .. The garment owners just think of their own profit .. The workers get pay only 20 euro p/m . Can u imagine !! The owners are earning billions of foreign currency .. Keep the deceased and wounded in ur prayers .. Allah bless my poor country ..
There’s nothing cheap about cheap clothes unless you believe that life is cheap
Excellent Frank.
So sad, we have no idea what conditions workers are making our clothes in and it’s not just the cheaper brands like Penny’s either. RIP to all those poor workers and here’s hoping those still trapped are rescued.
God love them… they knew they weren’t safe in that building but obviously had no choice but to work in it… makes you think of the stuff we take for granted
When people on here talk of workers being exploited, the same workers are most probably well off in their respective neighbourhoods because of the job that they hold! They are hardly going to be paid €8.65 an hour now are they ! That would mean the cheap clobber that you buy would no longer be cheap! Then the Irish consumer moans that they can’t afford it! It’s a vicious circle! As with regard to the story- The headline should read-”87 people die in building collapse”Full stop!
They work under those conditions as a direct result of IMF “help” in the past. Jesus man there is a reason these countries are so poor, we need cheap labour. Sadly
Its very sad that people have lost thier lives and is highlighting that the global clothing trade should be more ethical….. however, I hate to break it to prople blasting penneys et al out of it, but most big clothing companies have their clothes made in third world countries…..even the designer ones…
A whole load of wrongs don’t make a right.
I shop in Penneys. Love the prices. But at the cost of human lives??? Too expensive. Some mothers son. Some kids mother….. Oh my God. I’ve never cast a thought for the cheap labour. But i will now…. RIP to those that died… It should never happen again… It should never have happened at all
Deirdre cop on how is this Penneys fault? Should Penneys be checking wall quality in factory they don’t even own in Bangladesh? Maybe they should send someone to check traffic lights system at that big junction in Dhaka town, you know, in case some of their suppliers employees may drive through and have accident?
Mentioning Penneys in headline is somehow unfairly stressed and very cheap trick to drag attention and it works, look how many comments.
Yes they should, it’s not rocket science.
Penney’s has an interest in making sure those in the supply chain are at least safe at work. It isn’t an easy task within globalised supply chains but consumers are horrified when things like this happen and it’s no longer good enough to say they don’t know about conditions. I’d be the last person to rant about ‘exploiting third world peasants blah blah’ but look at Apple’s reaction to the Foxconn suicide scandal- they were forced by their own customers to crack down on bad practice.
The market is changing and consumers are not just interested in getting cheap tat from China anymore, they want to at least know people aren’t dying to get their goods.
Big news if this happened in the states
Bet it won’t make the front pages
American apparel make all their clothes in downtown LA, pay their workers well and still make a tidy profit by not outsourcing.Their quality is much higher too. Other international giants should look at their business model.
Yep just checked their website first jeans I clicked in men section 85 dollars you alright Paula.
RIP to them all. Unfortunately if the corruption is to be believed they won’t get justice, appalling.
Very sad story. In a country where building laws are so lax it would be wrong to decide not to pass business to the country based on this incident only though. Many families rely on this industry do survival. Terribly sad incident.
They may rely on it Kitty but these poor souls are been exploited. R.i.P to those who lost their lives in this tragedy.
People were on here yesterday singing the praises of Penny’s. Here’s a reality check for you all!
Ha? True. People couldn’t handle the truth yesterday. As you said maybe now its a reality check.
I am struggling to think of any major brands or shops that dont dabble in these sweatshops. Hard to know where to shop these days without contributing to exploitation of the 3rd world. Sad this day and age
This disaster has become about from poor/substandard construction and nothing to do with production of clothes for any particular retailer, it could have been in office use with the same outcome. RIP to all that lost their lives, terrible.
Surely these companies have a responsibilty to ensure people producing the goods are working in a safe enviroment. Its the massive companie’s money pulling the strings here,obviously local authorities cant be trusted to provide safe conditions so a bit of a moral compass on penneys and others part wouldnt go a miss
What has Penny’s got to do with this? Whats supposed to happen the next time some lad rips your knickers to sheds in a car park on the bonnet of his BMW? Are we to hold a vigil in memory of the worker that lost his life to make them?
Eh…what? Knickers….sheds….bonnet of a car, are you drunk? Or describing a car accident?
They are cheap for a reason. You can’t decouple one from the other.
So sickening them poor people just trying to earn a wage and having to work in a place so unsafe you would not even put your dog in it. Rest In Peace xx
So what are Bangladeshi going to do if not working in garment industry? Life in 3rd world countries is unsafe no matter who buys goods from them.
Fair trade all the way… Except with a recession in this country many have no choice but to shop in Penneys. Was there not a documentary some years ago on the pitiful conditions these unfortunate workers had to endure?
You mean the documentary the bbc made which they later apologised over because they used false information?
Sorry Sarah I don’t recollect which network but it wasn’t just Penneys.
Idea: what if assurance mark was awarded to clothes complying to minimum standards (awarded by independent international group – like fairtrade). Start with high end goods, Gucci and the like, make it trendy to buy assured clothes then filter down to high street. Might be more positive approach to a boycott.
Good news: huge sale in pennys on skightky damaged goods!
Interesting to see how many people seem to think that dozens of workers getting murdered every now and again in workplace accidents is a worthwhile price to pay for prosperity in poor countries, as if the two things went hand in hand.
Horrible tragedy. Hope whoever owns the building faces serious charges. Not that it will make a difference to those who have suffered.
Thank god I got boxer shorts and socks last week.
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