Nearly three weeks after a Bangladesh garment-factory building collapsed, the search for the dead ended Monday, May 13, at the site of the worst disaster in the history of the global garment industry. The death toll is 1,127.
Mohammed Amir Hossain Mazumder, deputy director of fire service and civil defense, said the search for bodies from the April 24 collapse was called off at 6 pm. (1200GMT). “Now the site will be handed over to police for protection. There will be no more activities from fire service or army,” he said.
Bulldozers and other vehicles have been removed from the building site, which will be fenced with bamboo sticks. Red flags have been erected around the site to bar entry.
The last body was found on Sunday night. A special prayer service will be held Tuesday to honor the dead, said army Brig. Gen. Mohammad Siddiqul Alam Shikder.
Bangladesh has 5,000 garment factories and 3.6 million garment workers. It is the third-biggest exporter of clothes in the world, after China and Italy. China lacks independent labor unions for all industries; the only legal unions are controlled by the Communist Party, and workers complain that they fail to represent their interests.
In November, 112 workers were killed in a garment factory in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. The factory lacked emergency exits, and its owner said only three floors of the eight-story building were legally built.
