Bangladesh building collapse: 50 survivors found on third floor
Bangladeshi relatives look at dead bodies after a building collapse in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 24, 2013. An eight-story building containing several garment factories collapsed in Bangladesh, killing at least 96 people and further highlighting safety problems in the clothing industry. Armed with concrete cutters and cranes, hundreds of fire service and army rescue workers struggled to find survivors in the mountain of concrete and mangled steel, which resembled the aftermath of an earthquake.
Rescue teams found 50 survivors on the third floor of the collapsed Bangladesh building Friday.
"We have found around 50 people still alive at several places on the third floor after digging tunnels. We hope we can rescue them by tomorrow morning," Sheikh Mizanur Rahman, deputy director of the Bangladeshi fire service, told Agence France-Presse.
"We've rescued about 80 people alive from the rubble today including at least eight people who have been rescued just a few minutes back."
There were also reports that a woman gave birth under the debris.
The woman and her baby were both rescued.
The news of survival and new life came as the 72-hour deadline to change the operation from rescue to recovery approached, even as hundreds more people were feared still trapped amid the rubble.
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At least 304 people have been found dead in the garment factory so far, which was ordered evacuated the day before it collapsed after workers and police discovered cracks throughout the building. But workers said their concerns went unheard by bosses, who said there were no problems with the building and ordered them back to work.
There are hundreds of people that are still believed to be trapped under the rubble.
The 72-hour deadline in which rescue operations scaled down and become recovery operations is quickly approaching as the hunt for survivors continues.
Police also had to fire tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators who were protesting the deaths of their fellow garment workers at the collapse site.
The methods were used to keep crowds from entering the accident area, and TV footage showed the protesters chanting next to bodies of victims of the collapse, demanding justice be brought to those responsible.