Rescuers retrieved 20 bodies from the wreckage of the collapsed building from 12 am to 9pm today (Saturday), said officer-in-charge of Dhaka district Detective Branch of police Wahiduzzaman.
Of the recovered bodies, 444 corpses were handed over to their families while the rest have been kept on the Savar Adhar Chandra Model High School ground and at the morgues of Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Dhaka Mitford Hospital.
The 2nd phase of the rescue operation using heavy equipment continued for the 5th consecutive day on Saturday.
The members of Army, Navy, Air Force, Fire Service and Red Crescent Society are taking part in the 2nd phase rescue operation that began on Tuesday midnight by using heavy cranes, cameras and trained dog squads.
About 20 percent debris has been removed so far in the 2nd phase of the rescue operation, which is going on slowly.
Earlier, on Thursday, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 9th Infantry Division Major General Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardi, who is coordinating the rescue operation, said that so far 2,870 people had been pulled out alive or dead from the ruins of the commercial complex. Of them, 2,437 were rescued alive, he had said at a press briefing.
The 8-storey Rana Plaza collapsed on April 24 due to its weak structure.
A good number people were seen waiting in front of the collapsed building in search of their near and dear ones with their photographs.
