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Building Collapse in Bangladesh Leaves Scores Dead Building Collapse in Bangladesh Leaves Scores Dead
(about 5 hours later)
NEW DELHI — An eight-story building in Bangladesh that housed several garment factories collapsed on Wednesday morning, killing at least 87 people, injuring hundreds of others, and leaving an unknown number of people trapped in the rubble, according to Bangladeshi officials and media outlets. DHAKA, Bangladesh — A building housing several factories making clothing for European and American consumers collapsed into a deadly heap on Wednesday, only five months after a horrific fire at a similar facility prompted leading multinational brands to pledge to work to improve safety in the country’s booming but poorly regulated garment industry.
The building collapse occurred in Savar, a suburb of the national capital, Dhaka, and is the latest accident to afflict Bangladesh’s garment industry. Bangladesh is the world’s second-leading garment exporter, trailing only China, but the industry has been beleaguered by safety concerns, angry protests over rock-bottom wages and other problems. By Wednesday evening, the Bangladeshi news media reported that more than 108 bodies had been recovered from Rana Plaza, a building in Savar, an industrial suburb of Dhaka, the capital. Police officials put the death toll at 124, with more than 1,000 of 2,500 workers injured, many of them still trapped beneath the rubble. Soldiers, paramilitary police officers, firefighters and other citizens clawed through the wreckage, searching for survivors and bodies.
This latest fatal accident, coming five months after a fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory killed at least 112 garment workers, is likely to again raise questions about work conditions in Bangladesh: workers told Bangladeshi news outlets that supervisors had ordered them to attend work on Wednesday, even though cracks were discovered in the building on Tuesday. Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan, head of the National Fire Service, said that an initial investigation found that the Rana Plaza building violated codes, with the four upper floors having been constructed illegally without permits.
Photographs showed rescue workers in hard hats climbing ladders into the destroyed structure, even as hundreds of people crowded outside, waiting to see if survivors could be pulled from the wreckage. Health Minister A.F.M. Ruhal Haque told reporters that at least 70 people were killed, more than 600 were injured and others remained trapped. Zahidur Rahman, a spokesman for Enam Medical College and Hospital, said that 87 people had been confirmed dead as of Wednesday evening, The Associated Press reported. “There was a structural fault as well,” General Khan added, noting that the building’s foundation was substandard.
Bangladesh’s garment industry has grown rapidly during the last decade, particularly as rising wages in China have pushed many global clothing brands to look for lower costs elsewhere. Bangladesh has the lowest labor costs in the world, with minimum wage in the garment industry set at roughly $37 a month. Retailers and brands including Walmart, H&M, Sears, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger and many others have outsourced the production of billions of dollars of clothes there. The collapse followed a fire in November that killed 112 workers making shorts and sweaters for export and that led importers, including Walmart, to vow to do more to ensure the safety of factories where goods they sell are manufactured. The building collapse on Wednesday quickly revived questions about the commitment of local factory owners, Bangladeshi officials and global brands to provide safe working conditions.
Industry proponents say the garment industry has been an essential engine for the Bangladeshi economy, lifting millions of people, particularly women, out of abject poverty, even with such low wages. Today, garments represent roughly 80 percent of Bangladesh’s manufacturing exports and provide a critical source of foreign exchange that the government needs to help offset the high costs of imported oil. The Bangladeshi news media reported that inspection teams had discovered cracks in the structure of Rana Plaza on Tuesday. Shops and a bank branch on the lower floors immediately closed. But the owners of the garment factories on the upper floors ordered employees to work on Wednesday, despite the safety risks.
But critics have blamed the Bangladeshi government, factory owners and global brands for doing too little to protect workers with safe working conditions or to pay them a livable wage. Labor unions are almost nonexistent inside garment factories, and a labor organizer, Aminul Islam, was tortured and murdered last year. His death remains unsolved. Labor activists combed the wreckage on Wednesday afternoon and discovered labels and production records suggesting that the factories were producing garments for major European and American brands. Labels were discovered for the Spanish brand Mango, and for the low-cost British chain Primark.
Alonzo Suson, country director for the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, a labor rights group, said Wednesday’s accident illustrated the repeated failure of government inspectors to ensure that safety standards were met. Activists said the factories also had produced clothing for Walmart, the Dutch retailer C & A, Benetton and Cato Fashions, according to customs records, factory Web sites and documents discovered in the collapsed building.
Survivors described a sensation akin to being in an earthquake: hearing a loud and terrifying cracking sound; feeling the concrete factory floor roll beneath their feet; and watching concrete beams and pillars collapse as the eight-story building suddenly seemed to implode.
“I heard screams,” said Mahmudul Hasan, a quality inspector at Ether Tex, a garment factory, who was hit by a falling ceiling. “My heart started pounding. I lay down near a pillar and started thinking that perhaps I was going to die.”
International attention was focused on labor conditions in Bangladesh five months ago, with the fatal fire at Tazreen Fashions, a garment factory near Dhaka. That fire brought pledges from government officials and many global companies to tighten safety standards.
But on Wednesday, many labor rights advocates said the collapse of Rana Plaza showed a continued failure to take meaningful action.
“The front-line responsibility is the government’s, but the real power lies with Western brands and retailers, beginning with the biggest players: Walmart, H & M, Inditex, Gap and others,” said Scott Nova, executive director of Worker Rights Consortium, a labor rights organization. “The price pressure these buyers put on factories undermines any prospect that factories will undertake the costly repairs and renovations that are necessary to make these buildings safe.”
Bangladesh is the world’s second-leading garment exporter, trailing only China, but the industry has been plagued by concerns over safety and angry protests over rock-bottom wages. The industry has grown rapidly in the past decade, particularly as rising wages in China have pushed many global clothing companies to look for lower costs elsewhere. Bangladesh has the lowest labor costs in the world, with the minimum wage for garment workers set at roughly $37 a month.
Such low labor costs have attracted not just Walmart but almost every major global clothing company, including Sears, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger and many others. Bangladesh now has more than 5,000 garment factories, employing more than 3.2 million workers, many of them women, and advocates credit the industry for lifting people out of poverty, even with such low wages. Exports also provide a critical source of foreign exchange that helps the government offset the high costs of imported oil.
But critics have argued that the outsize importance of the industry has made the government reluctant to take steps that could increase costs or alienate foreign brands. Labor unions are almost nonexistent, and a labor organizer, Aminul Islam, was tortured and murdered last year. The case remains unsolved. Meanwhile, some factory owners say they cannot raise wages or invest in upgrading facilities because of the low prices paid by Western brands.
Poorly constructed buildings have long been a problem in Bangladesh. In 2005, at least 64 workers at Spectrum Garments were killed in a building collapse. Alonzo Suson, who runs an A.F.L.-C.I.O. training center in Dhaka known as the Solidarity Center, said Wednesday’s accident illustrated the repeated failure of government inspectors to ensure that safety standards and building codes are met.
“It is substandard construction, shortcut construction,” Mr. Suson said. “There was already a crack in the building.”“It is substandard construction, shortcut construction,” Mr. Suson said. “There was already a crack in the building.”
Last November, the Tazreen Fashions fire underscored the poor safety conditions and work conditions at many Bangladeshi factories. Investigators later found gross negligence in fire-safety preparedness as well as in the actions of factory managers. When a fire alarm sounded inside the factory, some managers told workers to go back to work, saying the alarm was only a drill. The managers then left the building, even as many workers would be trapped inside. On Wednesday, a spokesman for Walmart expressed sympathy for the victims and said the global retail giant was committed to promoting stronger safety measures. “We are investigating across our global supply chain to see if a factory in this building was currently producing for Walmart,” said Kevin Gardner, the company spokesman.
The fire also exposed the opaque sourcing process used by many global retailers. Workers inside Tazreen Fashions were making clothes for Walmart, Sears, Li & Fung and many other global giants. Yet Walmart and Sears both denied any knowledge that their clothes were being produced inside the factory, instead blaming suppliers for secretly subcontracting the jobs. One problem exposed in the Tazreen Fashions fire was the opacity of the global supply chain for clothing. The Tazreen factory was making apparel for Walmart and Sears, but after the fire both retailers said they had not known that and accused their suppliers of secretly subcontracting the jobs.
Building safety is yet another concern. Many factories are smaller operations built inside nondescript office buildings. In 2005, at least 64 workers at Spectrum Garments were killed when the factory’s building collapsed. Inside Rana Plaza, labor activists discovered a document detailing cutting specifications for an order from Benetton. Yet Luca Biondolillo, a spokesman for the Benetton Group, denied any connection to the factories in the building. “None of the companies involved are currently suppliers of Benetton Group or any of its brands,” Mr. Biondolillo said.
After Wednesday’s collapse, photographs from the scene showed thousands of people converging on the site, with news reports saying the some of them were openly weeping and searching for family members. The Bangladeshi prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, announced that Thursday would be a national day of mourning. Ms. Hasina, leader of the governing Awami League, could face political fallout from the accident. Rana Plaza is owned by a political figure affiliated with the Awami League.
One garment factory owner told The Associated Press that while some people were pulled out alive from the rubble, scores of dead bodies were still buried underneath the debris. Mr. Hasan, the quality inspector who survived the collapse, recalled a chaotic scene in which the dust was so thick that he struggled to breathe.

Gerry Mullany contributed reporting from Hong Kong.

“I found some other colleagues around me when they were using the light of their mobile phones,” he said. “We were all trapped. So we had to crawl to look for space to escape.
“We were screaming, shouting, saying, ‘Save me! I am here!’ ”

Julfikar Ali Manik reported from Dhaka, and Jim Yardley from New Delhi. Steven Greenhouse contributed from New York.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: April 24, 2013Correction: April 24, 2013

An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of the country director for the American Center for International Labor Solidarity. He is Alonzo Suson, not Alonzo Susan.

An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of the country director for the American Center for International Labor Solidarity. He is Alonzo Suson, not Alonzo Susan.