Slavoj Zizek's Balls
25th April 2013, 17:48
At least 87 people have died due to a building collapse outside of Dhaka. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22275597
At least 87 people have been killed and many others trapped after an eight-storey building housing garment factories collapsed outside the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
Firefighters and army personnel are leading the operation to rescue those caught beneath the debris in Savar.
More than 1,000 people were injured. One official put the death toll at 127.
Cracks had been found in the building prior to the collapse, but owners told workers not to worry.
Building collapses are common in Bangladesh. Speaking at the scene, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir said the building had violated construction codes and "the culprits would be punished".
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing competitively priced clothes for major Western retailers which benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.
Tessel Pauli, a spokeswoman for the Amsterdam-based Clean Clothes Campaign, said activists at the scene had identified labels from European and US high-street brands.
"Immediate relief and long-term compensation must be provided by the brands who were sourcing from these factories, and responsibility taken for their lack of action to prevent this happening," she said in a statement to the BBC.
Primark, a clothes retailer with a large presence in Britain, confirmed that one of its suppliers was on the second floor of the Rana Plaza. It said it was "shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling incident" and that it would work with other retailers to review standards.
The Rana Plaza building contained several clothing factories, a bank and a market.
It collapsed at about 09:00 local time (03:00 GMT), during the morning rush hour.
It is not yet clear what caused the collapse, but local media reports said severe cracks were detected in the block on Tuesday.
One man rescued from the building told the BBC that factory owners had told workers on Wednesday morning "not to worry" and that "they said they had examined the crack".
Despicable. Primark, while gaining millions in profit, cannot afford to repair a cracked building which had been reported by the workers.
At least 87 people have been killed and many others trapped after an eight-storey building housing garment factories collapsed outside the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
Firefighters and army personnel are leading the operation to rescue those caught beneath the debris in Savar.
More than 1,000 people were injured. One official put the death toll at 127.
Cracks had been found in the building prior to the collapse, but owners told workers not to worry.
Building collapses are common in Bangladesh. Speaking at the scene, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir said the building had violated construction codes and "the culprits would be punished".
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing competitively priced clothes for major Western retailers which benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.
Tessel Pauli, a spokeswoman for the Amsterdam-based Clean Clothes Campaign, said activists at the scene had identified labels from European and US high-street brands.
"Immediate relief and long-term compensation must be provided by the brands who were sourcing from these factories, and responsibility taken for their lack of action to prevent this happening," she said in a statement to the BBC.
Primark, a clothes retailer with a large presence in Britain, confirmed that one of its suppliers was on the second floor of the Rana Plaza. It said it was "shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling incident" and that it would work with other retailers to review standards.
The Rana Plaza building contained several clothing factories, a bank and a market.
It collapsed at about 09:00 local time (03:00 GMT), during the morning rush hour.
It is not yet clear what caused the collapse, but local media reports said severe cracks were detected in the block on Tuesday.
One man rescued from the building told the BBC that factory owners had told workers on Wednesday morning "not to worry" and that "they said they had examined the crack".
Despicable. Primark, while gaining millions in profit, cannot afford to repair a cracked building which had been reported by the workers.