Rescuers race to dig survivors out of Bangladesh rubble

27 April AFP

Exhausted rescuers raced yesterday to dig out dozens of people found alive in the rubble of a Bangladesh garment factory complex that caved in three days earlier as the death toll rose to 324. Police said they arrested two factory owners early yesterday as rescue workers pulled two survivors from the wreckage, giving fresh hope to the teams of firefighters, police and volunteers who worked through the night.

“Two of them were pulled out alive just a few minutes back (nearly 70 hours after the disaster),” deputy chief of Dhaka police Shyaml Mukherjee told AFP.

Rescuers were digging in a desperate race to reach around 50 people found alive in the rubble.

The discovery of more survivors brought new hope to the thousands of relatives, many clutching photographs of missing loved ones, huddled at the site, but an intense stench suggested many bodies were trapped in the rubble. Some vented their anger at the pace of rescue work.

“I've been here since Wednesday. We still don't know what happened to my aunt and sister-in-law who worked at a garment factory in the building,” said Harunur Rashid.“The rescue work is going on very slowly. There are too many people, yet too little work.