Death Toll In Worst Building Collapse In Bangladesh Reaches To 397

New Delhi, April 29, IRNA -- The death toll in the worst building collapse in the history of Bangladesh today rose to nearly 400, even as the fugitive owner of the 8-storey structure was arrested dramatically while attempting to flee to India. Sohel Rana was arrested by the countryˈs elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from Benapole, one of the 14 land ports with India, just as he was about to cross into West Bengal, making this afternoonˈs arrest the fifth in the case. ˈRAB arrested Sohel Rana from Benapole frontiers as he tried to flee the country,ˈ pti reported quoting officials. Rana was later brought from Benapole in Jessore district to the RAB headquarters in Dhaka in a helicopter and was presented before the media. ˈThe Prime Minister had promised that those responsible will be brought to justice. She has kept her promise,ˈ officials said. Those who have been arrested will be prosecuted and those who are yet to be arrested will be caught soon, junior Home Minister Shamsul Haque Tuku said. The structure, that housed five garment factories, a bank branch and around three hundred shops employing thousands of workers, collapsed on April 24 leaving at least 397 people dead, a day after authorities issued a warning regarding cracks in the building. According to officials, Rana erected the building defying safety rules and proper clearance. Meanwhile, Bangladeshi rescuers postponed the second phase of rescue operations using heavy cranes and bulldozers as they said they were trying to retrieve alive manually the last few survivors. So far, around 2,443 survivors have been rescued from beneath the rubble with nine persons pulled out alive today. ˈThe second phase of the salvage campaign was halted for hours as it could endanger the last few survivors under the tones of rubbles...we will go for mechanical methods as soon as the last (manual) efforts to retrieve them are exhausted,ˈ a fire service official told newsmen at the scene. The authorities earlier today said they were set to launch the second phase of the salvage campaigns as they found little rhythm or pulses of life under concrete rubble or in between sandwiched floors of Rana Plaza. ˈWe have now unanimously decided to enter into the second phase of the salvage campaign using heavy equipment like cranes (to remove the rubbles) instead of manual efforts (to rescue survivors),ˈ said Sarwardy during a briefing after a coordination meeting of the rescue agencies. Rescuers said they were trying to pull out other survivors manually under an extended first phase of the rescue drill making their ways through a borehole. Rescuers would now enter the rubble on crane boxes, creating boreholes from the top and pull out survivors, if any, as it appears impossible to penetrate the concrete ruins manually using rod cutters and hand saws, he said. ˈBut rescuers will select calculated sites for boreholes, cautiously entering inside the rubble, so that the lives of survivors or their own are not in danger,ˈ said Sarwardy, who commands the armyˈs Savar-based 9th division. A senior fire brigade official told newsmen at the scene the time limit for extending the manual rescue operations were extended as survivors were found ˈmiraculouslyˈ alive even after expiry of 72 hours yesterday, a time frame considered maximum for survival under such debris. ˈWe are going to launch the second phase any moment now,ˈ an army spokesman told newsmen at the site in the evening. Todayˈs arrest came three days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered arrest of Rana and the owners of the five garment factories housed in the structure as they apparently forced several thousand workers to join the production line even after cracks were reported and warnings were issued. Owners of two garment units and two engineers responsible for building safety were arrested and remanded in police custody yesterday on court orders as the death toll continued to rise, prompting angry workers to take to the streets. Police said chairman of New Wave Buttons and New Wave Style factories Bazlus Samad and managing director of one of the plants Mahmudur Rahaman Tapash and municipal engineers Imtimam Hossain and Alam Mian would face charges of involuntary murders of several hundred people. About 3.6 million people work in Bangladesh’s garment industry, making it the world’s second-largest apparel exporter with Europe being its main destination. Bangladesh’s booming garment industry has been plagued by fires and other accidents for years. In November last year, 112 workers were killed in a blaze at the Tazreen factory in a nearby industrial suburb. Building collapses are common in Bangladesh as builders openly flout rules and the official construction code. The country witnessed the last major building collapse in 2005 when over 70 people were killed after a multistory garment factory collapsed in the same area./end