On April 24, 2013, thousands of garment workers were toiling inside the Rana Plaza building in Savar, Bangladesh. A violent jolt shook the floors around 9am. Then the eight-storey building gave a deafening groan, the pillars gave way and the entire structure went down in a heap with terrifying speed. The final death toll was 1,135 people.
Investigators say a host of factors contributed to its collapse: it was overloaded with machines and generators, constructed on swampy land, and the owner added floors in violation of the original building plan.
The owner of the building is behind bars, pending an investigation, but there has been no word on when he will be put on trial.
April 24, 2013: Crowds gather at the site of the Rana Plaza building after the eight-storey block housing garment factories and a shopping centre collapsedReutersApril 24, 2013: A rescue worker tries to enter a hole in the rubbleReutersApril 24, 2013: A garment worker who was trapped under the rubble is rescuedReutersApril 26, 2013: Rescue workers continue to search for trapped garment workersReutersApril 26, 2013: Rescue workers, army personnel, police and members of media run after someone shouted that a building next to Rana Plaza was collapsingReutersApril 26, 2013: Relatives hold a picture of a garment worker believed to be trapped under the rubbleReutersApril 27, 2013: Rescue workers carry a garment worker who was pulled alive from the rubble three days after Rana Plaza collapsedReutersApril 28, 2013: Rescue workers search for garment workers trapped under the rubbleReutersApril 28, 2013: Mohammed Sohel Rana, the owner of the collapsed building, is presented to the media after he was arrested by the elite Rapid Action Battalion in the border town of Benapole, ending a four-day manhuntReutersApril 28, 2013: Rescue workers pull a garment worker from the rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza as hopes fade for the more than 900 people still counted as missingReutersApril 28, 2013: Relatives hold up photos of some of the more than 900 garment workers still missing, believed to be trapped under the rubbleReutersApril 29, 2013: Members of Border Guards of Bangladesh inspect the collapsed building. Officials said they were unlikely to find more survivors in the rubbleReutersMay 1, 2013: People cover their noses as they gather in front of mass graves during the burial of unidentified garment workersReutersMay 1, 2013: Workers dig graves during a mass burial of unidentified garment workers who died in the collapse of the Rana Plaza buildingReutersMay 2, 2013: The remaining standing part of the Rana Plaza building collapses as the army continues to search the rubble for bodiesReutersMay 4, 2013: Two men sleep with a portrait of their relative as they wait for newsReutersMay 10, 2013: Miracle survivor Reshma is pulled from the rubble, 17 days after the building collapsed, astonishing workmen who had been searching for bodiesReuters
Rescuers found Reshma 17 days after the collapse, and authorities say her survival was miraculous. When the building began crumble around her, she said she raced down a stairwell into the basement, where she became trapped near a wide pocket that allowed her to survive. She found some dried food and bottles of water that saved her life.
Although her story has a happy ending — she now works in an international hotel in Dhaka's upmarket Gulshan area — she is still haunted by the disaster. "I can't tolerate darkness in my room at night. The light is switched on always," she said. "If the light is turned off, I start panicking. It feels like ... What I can say? Like I am still there."
Reshma, who says she is either 18 or 19 years old, is waiting for the day that the factory owners face justice. "So many people have died because of them," she said. "I want to see them executed."
April 23, 2014: Reshma Akter, who was rescued after spending 17 days under the rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza, poses for a photograph on the first anniversary of the tragedyAFP
