Rana Plaza disaster was a major factory building collapse in Savar, Bangladesh, in 2013. It ranks as the deadliest industrial accident in the history of Bangladesh. The Rana Plaza building housed five textile factories in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. The factories produced clothing for a number of international retailers. The building collapsed on April 24, 2013. The incident killed about 1,130 people and left some 2,500 others injured.
Background.
In the early 2000’s, Bangladesh’s garment industry grew rapidly as it produced inexpensive goods to be sold internationally. Garment workers received little pay for long hours of labor. Although the country instituted building and safety regulations, critics noted that the rules were often not enforced. Some factories lacked emergency exits or violated other safety codes.
Disaster.
On April 23, 2013, workers at the eight-story Rana Plaza complex noticed that the building had developed cracks. An engineer determined that the building was unsafe and should be evacuated. Police also ordered the building evacuated. However, the building’s owner told factory owners that the structure was safe.
On the morning of April 24, the building lost electric power, and electric generators in the building were switched on. Soon after, the building collapsed. Rescue crews spent weeks removing bodies from the rubble. The building’s owner and the engineer were arrested, as were several factory owners and two other engineers who issued permits during construction.
Investigators determined that the building was originally designed to have six stories, and the top floors had been added illegally. In addition, the building was constructed with poor-quality materials. Investigators also found that the electric generators and other large machinery had been installed in the building illegally. Experts believe the weight and vibration of the factory machinery and generators likely contributed to the building’s collapse.
Aftermath.
The Rana Plaza disaster drew international attention to the dangerous conditions in many of Bangladesh’s garment factories. Garment workers held marches and protests across Bangladesh to call for higher wages and safer working conditions. In May 2013, the government of Bangladesh announced plans to increase pay for garment workers. The government also announced plans to make it easier for garment workers to form labor unions. In 2015, Bangladeshi police filed murder charges against the building’s owner, the owners of several factories in the Rana Plaza complex, and numerous government officials.
