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BBC News - Dhaka building collapse: Rescuers remain hopeful
28 April 2013 Last updated at 04:12 GMT Share this pageEmailPrint
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Dhaka building collapse: Rescuers remain hopeful
There is no official figure on the number of people still missing
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Rescue teams remain hopeful of finding survivors trapped underneath a factory complex that collapsed on Wednesday in Bangladesh, killing some 350 people.
So far on Sunday, one more person has been pulled from the rubble, with efforts now focusing on another six.
Emergency services are now deciding how long to pursue efforts to find survivors.
Twenty-nine were rescued on Saturday and two engineers were arrested, but the building's owner is still missing.
The engineers were alleged to have approved the building's safety a day before it came down were arrested.
Police said they had ordered an evacuation of the building on Tuesday after cracks appeared in the structure on Tuesday, but that the factories ignored them and were operating the next day.
The owners of three of the five clothing factories inside were also detained after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised that those responsible would be hunted down.
They face preliminary charges of causing death by negligence.
However, the overall owner of the complex, Sohel Rana, reportedly a leader of the youth wing of the ruling Awami League, is in hiding and has so far avoided arrest. Police have detained Mr Rana's wife in an effort to persuade him to hand himself in.
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There are many dead bodies but our top priority is finding those who may still be alive
Mahbubur Rahman
Fire service director of operations
One minister has alleged that Rana Plaza was built without permits.
'She must return'
Thousands of relatives of missing workers gathered at the site to watch as survivors and the dead were pulled from the rubble on Saturday.
Police said that 353 bodies had so far been found, 301 of which had been identified. A further 2,431 people are known to have survived.
There is no official figure on the number of people still missing, but Akram Hossain, a deputy director of the fire service, said their chances of survival were "diminishing by the minute".
The fire service's head of operations, Mahbubur Rahman, said the rescue effort was becoming increasingly difficult for emergency workers as survivors were losing their strength to call for help.
"There are many dead bodies but our top priority is finding those who may still be alive," he told the Agence France-Presse news agency. "There are some survivors. We can hear their feeble cries or hear them talking to each other."
Mr Rahman said rescuers were digging tunnels through the rubble with bare hands, drills and shovels because they feared heavier equipment could cause further collapse.
Some 2,431 people are known to have survived the building collapse
"Pillars and beams are the biggest problem. Sometimes, even if we can locate survivors, we can't reach them because of these beams. They take a lot of time to cut through."
One of those who was rescued on Saturday, Merina Begum, said she and seven other workers had survived without food or water. She told AFP: "When the rescuers brought juice, ice cream and cold water, it was the tastiest food I've ever had."
Meanwhile, a man wept as he waited for news of his wife, who worked at one of the factories. "My son says that his mother will come back some day. She must return!" Abul Basar told the Associated Press.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing cheap clothing for major Western retailers that benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.
But the industry has been widely criticised for its low pay and limited rights given to workers and for the often dangerous working conditions in garment factories.
