Fifth anniversary: People from all walks of life pay tribute to Rana Plaza victims

Several labour rights organisations and relatives paid tribute to Rana Plaza victims in Savar on Tuesday on the fifth anniversary of the deadliest industrial disaster in Bangladesh.

On this day in 2013, the poorly-constructed multi-storey building collapsed killing more than 1,100 workers.

Hundreds of mourners, including relatives and fellow workers of the victims, placed wreaths at Shaheed Bedi, the scythe-and-hammer sculpture, in the morning.

Some workers burst into tears while paying tribute. They renewed their demand for death penalty to Rana Plaza owner Sohel Rana.

Dhaka District Awami League Vice President and Member of Parliament Enamur Rahman visited the disaster site in the morning to honour the victims.

The Rana Plaza building was used mainly by garment factories making products for the world’s top fashion brands. 

As many as 1,136 bodies were recovered from concrete debris and 2,438 workers were rescued alive from the collapsed building. Many of them were crippled for life and traumatised mentally.

A group of workers under the banner of Savar Probasi Sramajibi Front rallied on the site, demanding capital punishment to the building owners.

Sub-Inspector Wali Ashraf of Savar Police Station filed a case citing 'murder due to negligence' after the incident.

Assistant Police Commissioner of Criminal Investigation Department Bijoy Krishna Kar submitted the charge sheet against 41 accused, including building owner Sohel Rana on Apr 26, 2015.

At least 594 people were listed as witnesses.