Rescuers stretcher a female survivor off to the hospital. They pulled her out of the debris at the Savar tragedy sight on Friday.
Seventy-two more people were pulled out alive as rescue operation continues for a third day on Friday, with the death toll from the Savar building collapse rising to 304.
Of the bodies, 281 have so far been handed over to their families, Shahinur Islam, director of Inter-Services Public Relation, said at a press briefing at the spot around 4:30pm.
He said 2,348 victims — 304 deceased and 2044 alive — have so far been pulled out from the ruins since the nine-story building collapsed Wednesday morning.
The ISPR director said, “Our first priority is to save the lives as per the government’s instruction. We will carry on our operation until the last person is pulled out.”
“All necessary equipment is at our disposal. We are trying to make an intelligent use of our resources.”
Of the survivors, 18 were brought out together from a point on the fourth floor of the collapsed building around 4:00pm, report our correspondents at the site.
Earlier, rescuers have brought out four survivors from a mangled floor of the caved-in building around 1:50pm, said sources in the control room opened for counting the bodies.
As people’s shouting for help was being heard out of the holes, rescuers from fire service and army struggled with concrete cutters and cranes with the hope of finding more survivors trapped inside the collapsed Rana plaza.
Besides, food and water were given through the holes as the exact number of survivors is still unknown.
Rana Plaza, a nine-storey building, housing five garment factories, a shopping complex and a branch of Brac Bank collapsed Wednesday morning, trapping inside a huge number of people.
Source: The Daily Star
