Relatives look for missing “dead or alive”

A pall of gloom still hung over Savar, five days after the country’s worst ever industrial tragedy struck it on Wednesday killing nearly 400 people.

Ashik Hossainand Golam Mujtoba Dhrubabdnews24.com
Published : 28 April 2013, 09:44 AM
Updated : 28 April 2013, 02:03 PM

Several hundred are still missing under the debris of the wreckage. As chances of their being alive are getting slimmer, their anxious relatives are now hoping to find their bodies at least to do the last rites.

Posters carrying photos of the missing victims were put on the walls of Adhar Chandra School, where bodies are being taken after recovery.

‘We want them back dead or alive’ reads the poignant line beneath the photos. People were also seen holding pictures of their relatives in a faint hope of getting some information about them.

One such anxious relative is 60-year old Rahima Begum. She has been looking for her grandsons -- ‘Sekandar’, and ‘Sentu’ – since the building collapsed on Wednesday. Whenever a body is recovered or someone is pulled out alive, she rushes to see them hoping to find her grandsons.

An emotional Rahima even requested the journalists on the spot to help her find her grandsons.

“What are you doing when you can’t find the missing … No one has been able to find them (her grandsons),” she angrily told an onlooker.

Like everyone else, she, too, was holding pictures of her grandsons who used to work at a garment factory located on the third floor of the building.

Like Rahima, thousands of others had thronged the school grounds.

Habibur Rahman is a distraught father. He is looking for his daughter, ‘Shaninur’. She, too, used to work at a garments factory.
“My child where are you,” Rahman wailed as he searched for her.
Akter Hossain had come from Dinajpur to look for his sister, ‘Fozila’. “A rescue worker had informed me that my sister is alive,” he said as he requested rescuers to help him find his sister.
Sadequr Rahman was looking for his brother-in-law Babu Mia who worked at a garment factory on the fourth floor. “Babu’s colleague was rescued. I have looked for him everywhere but still could not find him,” he said.
Rescue works were on amid the wailing of anxious relatives. Nine people were found alive under the rubble on Sunday.
Inspector Aminur Rahman, working at the centre set up at the Adhar Chandra School, said number of missing was over 1,000. So far, 377 bodies have been recovered out of which 309 have been handed over to their relatives.
Another 52 unidentified bodies have been kept at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Mitford Hospital morgues. The rest have been kept at the school grounds.
There was confusion about the number of the dead. The centre had initially put the death toll at 397 but later revised it down to 377. Inspector Rahman said they were ‘mistaken’ about the number.
No numbers were attached with names after 1,168. Sub Inspector Abdul Alim said they were ‘too busy’ to write serial numbers besides names.
Heavy machinery and equipment are expected to be used anytime now to clear the debris.
Inter Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) Director Md Shaheenul Islam said they were looking for survivors through seven holes dug on the site.
Savar municipal unit Jubo League leader Sohel Rana owned the building which was allegedly constructed violating building norms. The building housed five garment factories.
RAB arrested Rana on Sunday afternoon from Benapole as he was trying to escape to India. So far, the law keepers have detained five men – three factory owners and two municipal engineers -- in connection with the tragedy.