Rana Plaza collapse
Date | 24 April 2013 (11 years ago) |
---|---|
Time | 08:45 am BST (UTC+06:00)[1] |
Location | Savar Upazila, Dhaka District, Bangladesh |
Coordinates | 23°50′46″N 90°15′27″E / 23.84611°N 90.25750°E |
Also known as | Savar building collapse |
Deaths | 1,134[2] |
Non-fatal injuries | ~2,500[3] |
Suspects | Sohel Rana |
Charges | Murder |
The Rana Plaza collapse (also referred to as the Savar building collapse or the collapse of Rana Plaza) occurred on 24 April 2013, when the eight-storey "Rana Plaza" commercial building collapsed due to a structural failure. The rescue team's search ended on 13 May 2013, with a confirmed death toll of 1,134.[2] Approximately 2,500 injured people were rescued from the building.[4] It is considered as one of the deadliest structural failures in modern human history, as well as the deadliest garment-factory disaster in history, and the deadliest industrial accident in the history of Bangladesh.[5][6][7] Amnesty International called it "the most shocking recent example of business-related human rights abuse."[8]
The building housed five garment factories, a bank, and apartments. It was constructed in 2006 on the site of a former pond, and was built without proper permits.[9] The fifth through eighth floors were added onto the building without supporting walls; the heavy equipment from the garment factories was more than the structure could support.[10][11][12][13] On 23 April 2013, large cracks were discovered in the building. The shops and the bank on the lower floors immediately closed, but the garment factory owners on the upper floors ignored the warnings and the workers returned to work the following day. On 24 April, the building collapsed at 9:00 am local time, trapping thousands of people inside.[14]
The court in Bangladesh formally charged 38 people with murder, along with the building owner Sohel Rana. Rana was arrested after a four-day manhunt, as he attempted to flee across the border to India. A total of 41 defendants faced charges over the collapse of the complex. Of the 41 people charged, 35 (including Rana) appeared before the court and pleaded not guilty. Rana was not granted bail. He was charged with corruption again in 2017; the trials continue to this day.[15][16]
The collapse of Rana Plaza was a major turning point in the Bangladesh garment industry. It led to widespread protests and calls for better safety standards.[17] In the aftermath of the disaster, the Bangladesh government passed a new law that requires all garment factories to be inspected by a government-approved agency.[18] The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, commonly referred to as the Bangladesh Accord, was established in response to the Rana Plaza disaster. Signed on May 15, 2013, the Bangladesh Accord is a five-year, independent, legally binding agreement between global brands, retailers, and trade unions. Its primary goal is to ensure the health and safety of workers in Bangladesh’s Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry.[19]
Background
[edit]Rana Plaza was built in 2006 and owned by Sohel Rana—allegedly a member of the local unit of Jubo League (the youth wing of Bangladesh Awami League, the political party in power).[12][20] It housed a number of separate garment factories, employing around 5,000 people, plus ground-level shops and a bank.[21] The factories manufactured apparel for international brands including Benetton,[22] Zara,[23] The Children's Place,[13] El Corte Inglés,[24] Joe Fresh,[22] Mango,[23] Matalan,[25] Primark,[26] and Walmart.[27][28]
The head of the Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defence, Ali Ahmed Khan, said that the upper four floors had been built without a permit.[29] Rana Plaza's architect, Massood Reza, said the building was "planned for shops and offices, but not factories". Other architects stressed the risks involved in placing factories inside a building designed only for shops and offices, noting the structure was potentially not strong enough to bear the weight and vibration of heavy machinery.[30]
On 23 April 2013 (one day before the collapse), a TV channel reported on and showed footage of cracks in the Rana Plaza building. Upon this broadcast, the building was evacuated,[31] and the shops and the bank on the lower floors were closed.[21][29][32] Later in the day, Sohel Rana told the media that the building was "safe", and that workers "should return" the following day.[31] Reportedly, management at Ether Tex threatened to withhold a month's pay from workers who refused to come back to work.[33]
Collapse and rescue
[edit]On the morning of 24 April, there was a power outage and diesel generators on the top floor were started.[34] At 08:54 am BST, loud vibrations and rumbling noises erupted on the top floors and spread throughout Rana Plaza, causing many workers to jump from their positions and rush towards the exits, but the structural failure started less than a minute later. The building collapsed completely at about 08:57 am BST,[34] leaving only the ground floor intact.[11] The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president confirmed that 3,122 workers were in the building at the time of the collapse.[35] One local resident described the scene as if "an earthquake had struck."[36]
The United Nations' urban search and rescue coordination group – known as the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) – offered assistance from its members, but the government of Bangladesh rejected this offer. The government made a statement, suggesting that the area's local rescue emergency services were sufficiently well-equipped.[37] Before offering assistance to Bangladesh, the United Nations held consultations and reviews to assess the government's ability to mount an effective rescue operation, reaching the conclusion that they lacked that capability. Bangladeshi officials, desiring to take "face-saving" actions and protect national sensibilities, still refused to accept the assistance offered to them by the UN. A large portion of the rescue operation consisted of inadequately-equipped volunteers, many of whom wore no protective clothing or gear, with mere sandals on their feet. Some buried survivors drank their own urine to survive the high temperatures while waiting to be saved. Not only was the Bangladeshi government accused of favouring national pride over those buried alive, but many relatives of those trapped in the debris criticized the government for trying to end the rescue mission prematurely.[38]
One of the garment manufacturers' websites indicates that more than half of the victims were women, along with a number of their children who were in nursery facilities within the building.[13] Bangladeshi Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir confirmed that fire service personnel, police and military personnel were assisting with the rescue effort.[9] Volunteer rescue workers used bolts of fabric to assist survivors to escape from the building.[39] A national day of mourning was held on 25 April.[9]
On 8 May, army spokesman Mir Rabbi said the army's attempt to recover more bodies from the rubble would continue for at least another week.[40] On 10 May, 17 days after the collapse, a woman named Reshma was found and rescued alive, and almost unhurt, under the rubble.[41][42][43][44]
Causes
[edit]The direct reasons for the building problems were:
- The building having been built on a filled-in pond, which compromised structural integrity,[31]
- Conversion from commercial use to industrial use,[45]
- Unauthorized addition of four floors not included in the original building permit,[46]
- The use of substandard construction material (which led to an overload of the building structure aggravated by vibrations due to the generators and heavy industrialised machinery).[45] Those various elements indicated dubious business practices by Sohel Rana and dubious administrative practices in Savar.[31][47][48]
The collapse of the building was preceded by a number of administrative failures, leading to early warning signs being ignored. It was reported that the industrial police first requested the evacuation of the building until an inspection had been conducted.[49][50] It was also reported that Abdur Razak Khan, an engineer, declared the building unsafe and requested public authorities to conduct a more thorough inspection; he was arrested for helping the owner illegally add three floors.[48][51] It is also reported that Kabir Hossain Sardar, the Upazila Nirbahi Officer who visited the site, met with Sohel Rana and declared the building safe.[47] Sohel Rana said to the media that the building was safe and workers should return to work the next day.[52] One manager of the factories in the Rana Plaza reported that Sohel Rana told them that the building was safe.[53] Managers then requested the workers to go back to work. Managers at Ether Tex threatened to withhold a month's pay from workers who refused to come to work.[35] As a result, workers also returned to the factories the next day.
Management and safety compliance
[edit]The decision by managers to send workers back into the factories was partially due to the pressure to complete orders on time, putting partial responsibility for the disaster on the short production deadlines preferred by buyers due to the fast fashion industry.[54] Media including The Guardian have argued the demand for fast fashion and low-cost clothing motivated minimal oversight by clothing brands and that collectively organised trade unions could have responded to the pressure of management.[55][56][57][58] Others have argued that trade unions would increase workforce costs and thus endanger the Bangladesh garment industry.[59]
Since the Spectrum factory collapse in 2005, prominent manufacturers organized projects like the Ethical Trading Initiative and Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) to prevent such disasters in the Bangladesh textile industry and elsewhere.[60] These programs ultimately failed to prevent the Savar building collapse. Despite social compliance audits conducted according to BSCI procedure at two of the factories at Rana Plaza, auditors failed to detect the structural concerns. In a press release following the collapse, BSCI explained that their system did not cover building safety.[61] This has been contested, as the BSCI audit questionnaire required auditors to check building permits, and discrepancies between the permit and the number of floors in practice were evident.[62] Some have argued that the BSCI has weak incentives to report such violations.[63]
More conclusions about causes will be available when the investigation is over and the courts give their decisions.[64]
Aftermath
[edit]Bangladesh
[edit]The day after the Rana Plaza building collapsed, the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Capital Development Authority) filed a case against the owners of the building and the five garment factories operating inside it.[35] On the same day, dozens of survivors were discovered in the remains of the building.[65] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had said in Parliament that the name "Sohel Rana" was not in the Jubo League office bearers list; she then ordered the arrest of Sohel Rana and four of the owners of the garment factories operating in the building.[66][67] Sohel Rana was reported to have gone into hiding;[66] however, authorities reported that four other individuals had already been arrested in connection with the collapse.[68]
Two days after the building collapsed, garment workers across the industrial areas of Dhaka, Chittagong and Gazipur rioted, targeting vehicles, commercial buildings and garment factories.[69] The next day, leftist political parties and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led 18 Party Alliance demanded the arrest and trial of suspects and an independent commission to identify vulnerable factories.[70] Four days after the building collapsed, the owner of the Rana Plaza, Sohel Rana, was arrested at Benapole, Jessore District, on the Indo-Bangladeshi border, by security forces.[71][72][73][74] On the same day a fire broke out at the disaster site and authorities were forced to temporarily suspend the search for survivors.[75]
On 1 May, during International Workers' Day, thousands of protesting workers paraded through central Dhaka to demand safer working conditions and the death penalty for the owner of Rana Plaza.[76] A week later hundreds of survivors of the disaster blocked a main highway to demand wages as the death toll from the collapse passed 700.[77][78] Local government officials said they had been in talks with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association to pay the workers their outstanding April salaries plus a further three months – £97. After officials promised the surviving workers that they would be soon paid, they ended their protest. The government and garment association were compiling a list of surviving employees to establish who must be paid and compensated.[79] The next day, 18 garment plants, including 16 in Dhaka and two in Chittagong, were closed down. Textile minister Abdul Latif Siddique told reporters that more plants would be shut as part of strict new measures to ensure safety.[80]
On 5 June, police in Bangladesh fired into the air in an attempt to disperse hundreds of former workers and relatives of the victims of the collapse who were protesting to demand back pay and compensation promised by the government and the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association.[81] On 10 June, seven inspectors were suspended and accused of negligence for renewing the licenses of garment factories in the building that collapsed.[82] On 30 August, 100 days after the collapse of Rana Plaza, injured workers and family members of those who died there along with workers rights activists inaugurated a memorial for the tragedy, a crude statue of two fists thrusting towards the sky grasping a hammer and sickle. The police attempted to stop the erection of the memorial several times. It remains the only memorial monument for the tragedy.[57][83][84]
On 22 September, at least 50 people were injured when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas into a crowd of protesters who were blocking streets in Dhaka demanding a minimum wage of $100 (৳8,114) a month.[85] In November, a 10-storey garment factory in Gazipur, which supplied Western brands, was allegedly burned down by workers angered over rumours of a colleague's death in police firing.[86]
In March 2014 Rana Plaza owner Sohel Rana was granted six months' bail in the High Court. This prompted angry reactions from labour leaders. However, Rana would not be released from jail as another case filed by police is pending.[87] A December 2015 report, written by the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, found that only eight of 3,425 factories inspected had "remedied violations enough to pass a final inspection" despite the international community's $280 million commitment to clean up Bangladesh's RMG industry.[88] On 14 June 2016 Sohel Rana and 17 others were indicted for violating building code in the construction of Rana Plaza.[89] In August 2016 the trial was postponed after defendants filed appeals with the High Court of Bangladesh.[90]
Worldwide criticism
[edit]Politicians
[edit]Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister of the UK and leader of the Liberal Democrats said: "... consumers have more power than they think when it comes to making choices about where they shop."[91]
Michael Connarty, UK's Falkirk East MP, called on the UK Government to push through new legislation to end modern day slavery by forcing major High Street companies in the UK to audit their supply chain. The framework requests that those companies make vigorous checks to ensure slave labour is not used in third world countries and the UK to produce their goods.[92]
Karel De Gucht, the European Commissioner for Trade, warned that retailers and the Bangladesh government could face action from the EU if nothing is done to improve the conditions of workers – adding that shoppers should also consider where they are spending their money.[93]
On 1 May, Pope Francis spoke out against the working conditions in the factory:
A headline that really struck me on the day of the tragedy in Bangladesh was 'Living on 38 euros a month'. That is what the people who died were being paid. This is called slave labour. Today in the world this slavery is being committed against something beautiful that God has given us – the capacity to create, to work, to have dignity. How many brothers and sisters find themselves in this situation! Not paying fairly, not giving a job because you are only looking at balance sheets, only looking at how to make a profit. That goes against God![94][95]
Advocacy groups
[edit]Human Rights Watch stated their concern over the number of factory-building tragedies in Bangladesh; there have been numerous major accidents in the country in the past decade, including the 2012 Dhaka fire.[96]
IndustriALL Global Union, a global union federation representing textile and garment workers' trade unions around the world, launched an online campaign in support of the Bangladeshi unions' demand for labour law reform in the wake of the disaster. The campaign, hosted on LabourStart, calls for changes in the law to make it easier for unions to organise workers, as well as demanding improved health and safety conditions.[97]
On 27 April, protesters surrounded Primark store on Oxford Street in the City of Westminster in the West End of London. Speaking outside the store, Murray Worthy, from campaign group War on Want, said:
We're here to send a clear message to Primark that the 300 deaths in the Bangladesh building collapse were not an accident – they were entirely preventable deaths. If Primark had taken its responsibility to those workers seriously, no one need have died this week.[98]
There have been monthly protests at Benetton's flagship store at Oxford Circus in London since the one year anniversary of the collapse. Benetton initially denied reports linking production of their clothing at the factory, but clothes and documents linked to Benetton were discovered at the disaster site.[99] The protesters are demanding that Benetton contribute to the compensation fund, which they have not yet done.[100]
The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights established a workers' relief fund, which raised $26,000 for injured workers and surviving family members by September 2013.[101]
Academia
[edit]A team of researchers from NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights began their investigation which resulted in an April 2014 report entitled "Business as Usual Is Not an Option: Supply Chains and Sourcing after Rana Plaza."[102] A December 2015 report, written by the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, found that only eight of 3,425 factories inspected had "remedied violations enough to pass a final inspection" despite the international community's $280 million commitment to clean up Bangladesh's RMG industry.[88]
Consumers
[edit]Dozens of consumers in the United States and Australia spoke out against unsafe working conditions found in the factory building. People also expressed their anger at retailers that did not have any connections to that specific building, but are known to source from factories located in Bangladesh.[103][104]
Fashion industry response
[edit]The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, commonly referred to as the Bangladesh Accord, was established in response to the Rana Plaza disaster. Signed on May 15, 2013, the Bangladesh Accord is a five-year, independent, legally binding agreement between global brands, retailers, and trade unions. Its primary goal is to ensure the health and safety of workers in Bangladesh’s Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry. This landmark agreement expanded on an earlier memorandum of understanding signed by global brands PVH and Tchibo, marking a significant step toward building a safe and sustainable garment sector in the country.
Walmart, along with 14 other North American companies, refused to sign the Accord as the deadline passed.[105] As of 23 May 2013, thirty-eight companies had signed the accord.[106] Walmart, J.C. Penney and labour activists have been considering an agreement to improve factory safety in Bangladesh for at least two years.[40] In 2011, Walmart rejected reforms that would have had retailers pay more for apparel to help Bangladesh factories improve safety standards.[28][107]
On 10 July 2013, a group of 17 major North American retailers, including Walmart, Gap, Target and Macy's, announced a plan to improve factory safety in Bangladesh, drawing immediate criticism from labour groups who complained that it was less stringent than an accord reached among European companies. Unlike the accord joined mainly by European retailers, the plan lacks legally binding commitments to pay for those improvements.[108]
Dov Charney, the founder and CEO of American Apparel, was interviewed on Vice.tv and spoke out against the poor treatment of workers in developing countries and referred to it as "slave labor". Charney proposed a "Global Garment Workers Minimum Wage" and discussed in detail many of the inner workings of the modern fast fashion industry commerce practices that led to dangerous factory conditions like at Savar.[109]
In October 2013, Canadian Brad Loewen was given the responsibility of implementing the Accord requirement to upgrade the safety features of 1600 Bangladeshi garment factories. He and his wife, filmmaker Shelagh Carter, moved to Dhaka in December 2013[110][111] for an expected five-year term.[112]
By 2023, substantial progress had been made on fire and building safety in the Bangladesh garment industry, but survivors of the collapse still faced uncompensated economic hardships created by physical and psychological injuries.[113]
Compensation to victims
[edit]According to the International Labor Rights Forum, full compensation for the families and victims was achieved in 2015.[114]
In mid 2014, Human Rights Watch reported that initial payments of $650 each had been documented.[115]
The initial response to calls for compensation was slow. In mid September 2013, compensations to families of disaster victims were under discussion only, with many families struggling to survive after having lost their lone wage earner who used to provide them food, shelter, education and health care.[116] Families who had received the $200 compensation from Primark were only those able to provide DNA evidence of their relative's death in the collapse, which proved extremely difficult.[117] The US government provided DNA kits to the families of victims.[117]
Of the 29 brands identified as having sourced products from the Rana Plaza factories, only 9 attended meetings held in November 2013 to agree on a proposal on compensation to the victims. Several companies refused to sign including Walmart, Carrefour, Auchan and KiK. The agreement was signed by Primark, Loblaw, Bonmarche and El Corte Ingles.[118] By March 2014, seven of the 28 international brands sourcing products from Rana Plaza had contributed to the Rana Plaza Donor's Trust Fund compensation fund, which is backed by the International Labour Organization.[119]
More than 2 dozen victims' families have not been compensated as they could not back up their claims with documentation.[120]
Charges
[edit]On 15 June 2014, the Bangladesh Anti Corruption Commission filed a case against 14 people for building Rana Plaza with faulty design.[46] On 1 June 2015, murder charges were filed by the Bangladesh Police against 42 people, including the owners of the building, over the collapse.[121][122] The accused were indicted on 28 July 2016. The case was delayed after the Bangladesh High Court stopped trial proceedings against 5 accused including Savar Mayor Refayat Ullah.[123]
On 29 August 2017, the factory owner, Sohel Rana, was sentenced to a maximum three year imprisonment by a court for failing to declare his personal wealth to the country's anti-graft commission. Rana and 37 others, including government officials, have also been charged with murder and could receive the death penalty if they are found responsible for the complex's collapse.[16]
As of 2021, both the murder trial and the violation of the building code trial are still pending. Only Sohel Rana is in custody, the others accused were on bail, on the run or already dead.[124][125]
International reaction
[edit]The Savar building collapse has led to widespread discussions about corporate social responsibility across global supply chains. Based on an analysis of the Savar building collapse, Wieland and Handfield (2013) suggest that companies need to audit products and suppliers; and that supplier auditing needs to go beyond direct relationships with first-tier suppliers. They also demonstrate that visibility must be improved if supply cannot be directly controlled, and that smart and electronic technologies play a key role to improve visibility. Finally, they highlight that collaboration with local partners, across the industry and with universities is crucial to successfully managing social responsibility in supply chains.[126]
Bangladesh Garment Sramik Sanghati, an organization working for the welfare of the workers, has called on the government, international buyers, and factory owners to compensate survivors and victims' families. The group has also asked that April 24 be declared Labor Safety Day in the country.
Global labour and rights groups have criticized Western retailers and say they are not doing enough to ensure the safety at factories where their clothes are made. The companies linked to the Rana Plaza disaster include the Spanish brand Mango, Italian brand Benetton and French retailer Auchan.[127]
On 24 April 2014, thousands of people gathered at an event held to commemorate the first anniversary of the disaster near the building site.[128]
Documentary
[edit]Shelagh Carter produced a short documentary, Rana Plaza: Let Not the Hope Die (2014), commemorating the one-year anniversary of the tragedy, while living in Dhaka[129] in support of her husband Brad Loewen's work in implementing the Accord.[130]
See also
[edit]- Exploitation of labour
- Final Embrace
- Sweatshop
- The True Cost
- List of disasters in Bangladesh by death toll
- Other garment factory disasters:
- Other building collapses:
- Pemberton Mill (1860 collapse)
- Collapse of Hotel New World (1986)
- Sampoong Department Store collapse (1995)
- Collapse of the World Trade Center (2001)
- Thane building collapse (2013)
- Riga supermarket roof collapse (2013)
- Surfside condominium building collapse (2021)
- Organizations
References
[edit]- ^ Mollah, Shaheen; Bin Habib, Wasim (25 April 2013). "It crumbles like a pack of cards". The Daily Star. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
- ^ a b Tansy, Hopkins (23 April 2015). "Reliving the Rana Plaza factory collapse: a history of cities in 50 buildings, day 22". The Observer. London. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
- ^ "Bangladesh building collapse death toll over 800". BBC News. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ Alam, Julhas; Hossain, Farid (13 May 2013). "Bangladesh collapse search over; death toll 1,127". Yahoo News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ "Bangladesh building collapse death toll passes 500". BBC News. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
- ^ Alam, Julhas; Hossain, Farid (2 May 2013). "Bangladesh Building Collapse Death Toll Tops 500; Engineer Whistleblower Arrested". HuffPost. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
- ^ The worst industrial disasters in Bangladesh since 2005, Dhaka Tribune, June 5, 2022
- ^ "Rana Plaza disaster: The unholy alliance of business and government in Bangladesh, and around the world". Amnesty International. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Ahmed, Farid (25 April 2013). "Bangladesh building collapse kills at least 123, injures more than 1,000". CNN. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ Goodwin, Jacqueline (20 April 2021). "The Rana Plaza Collapse: What Happened & What it Means for Fashion". Grow Ensemble. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
- ^ a b "Bangladesh Dhaka building collapse leaves 87 dead". BBC News. 24 April 2013.
- ^ a b "80 dead, 800 hurt in Savar high-rise collapse". bdnews24.com. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ a b c Nelson, Dean (24 April 2013). "Bangladesh building collapse kills at least 82 in Dhaka". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ "Unpacking the Rana Plaza Factory Collapse of 2013 - SANNA Conscious Concept". sannaconsciousconcept.com. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
- ^ "Bail of Rana Plaza owner Sohel Rana decried". New Age. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
- ^ a b "Rana Plaza collapse: Sohel Rana jailed for corruption". BBC News. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
- ^ "Bangladeshis Burn Factories to Protest Unsafe Conditions (Published 2013)". 26 April 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
- ^ "Clothiers Act to Inspect Bangladeshi Factories (Published 2013)". 7 July 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
- ^ "ILO welcomes accord on Building and Fire Safety in Bangladesh". www.ilo.org. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
- ^ "Savar Juba League dissolved". bdnews24.com. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ a b Zain Al-Mahmood, Syed; Smithers, Rebecca (24 April 2013). "Matalan supplier among manufacturers in Bangladesh building collapse". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ a b O'Connor, Clare. "'Extreme Pricing' At What Cost? Retailer Joe Fresh Sends Reps To Bangladesh As Death Toll Rises". Forbes. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ a b Smithers, Rebecca (29 April 2013). "Benetton admits link with firm in collapsed Bangladesh building". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ Greenhouse, Steven (13 May 2013). "Major Retailers Join Bangladesh Safety Plan". The New York Times.
- ^ Nelson, Dean; Bergman, David (25 April 2013). "Scores die as factory for clothing stores collapses". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ Alam, Julhas (24 April 2013). "At least 87 dead in Bangladesh building collapse". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ Greenhouse, Steven (14 May 2013). "As Firms Line Up on Factories, Wal-Mart Plans Solo Effort". The New York Times.
- ^ a b Johnson, Kay; Alam, Julhas (26 April 2013). "Major Retailers Rejected Bangladesh Factory Safety Plan". HuffPost. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- ^ a b Manik, Julfikar Ali; Yardley, Jim (24 April 2013). "Building Collapse in Bangladesh Leaves Scores Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
- ^ Blair, David; Bergman, David (3 May 2013). "Bangladesh: Rana Plaza architect says building was never meant for factories". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ a b c d "The house of cards: the Savar building collapse". libcom.org. 26 April 2013.
- ^ Mirdha, Refayet Ullah; Rahman, Sajjadur (25 April 2013). "Workers forced to join work". The Daily Star. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
- ^ Devnath, Arun; Srivastava, Mehul (25 April 2013). "'Suddenly the Floor Wasn't There,' Factory Survivor Says". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ a b Siddiqui, Sadaf Saaz (25 April 2014). "From Under the Rubble". The Daily Star.
- ^ a b c "Case filed against owners of collapsed building in Dhaka". ITV News. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
- ^ Howie, Michael (24 April 2013). "At least 100 killed and many more hurt in Bangladesh factory collapse". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ "Dhaka building collapse: Hopes for rescue fade". BBC News. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ "Bangladesh: UK rescue aid rejected after Dhaka factory collapse". The Daily Telegraph. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
- ^ "Bangladesh Dhaka building collapse: pictures". MSN. 24 April 2013. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ a b Devnath, Arun (8 May 2013). "Bangladesh Orders Factory Closings as Collapse Toll Hits 804". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ Manik, Julfikar Ali; Yardley, Jim (10 May 2013). "17 Days in Darkness, a Cry of 'Save Me,' and Joy". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ "Dhaka building collapse: Woman pulled alive from rubble". BBC News. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ Rahman, Rafiqur (11 May 2013). "Woman pulled alive from rubble of Bangladesh factory". Reuters. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ "Bangladesh factory collapse survivor pulled from rubble after 17 days trapped". CBS News. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ a b "Power generators linked to Dhaka building collapse". BBC News. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ a b "Rana Plaza collapse: Order on charge framing against Sohel Rana, others May 8". Dhaka Tribune. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
- ^ a b Zain Al-Mahmood, Syed (26 April 2013). "Nexus of politics, corruption doomed Rana Plaza". Dhaka Tribune. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
- ^ a b "Bangladesh Official: Disaster not really serious". USA Today. Associated Press. 3 May 2013.
- ^ Alam, Julhas (26 April 2013). "Bangladesh Factory Collapse: Death Toll Climbs To More Than 300". HuffPost. Associated Press.
- ^ Manik, Julfikar Ali; Greenhouse, Steve; Yardley, Jim (25 April 2013). "Western Firms Feel Pressure as Toll Rises in Bangladesh". The New York Times.
- ^ Yardley, Jim; Manik, Julfikar Ali (2 May 2013). "Bangladesh arrests Engineer who warned of dangers". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018.
- ^ "Bangladesh: Out of the Rubble, Our World". BBC News. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- ^ Kelley, Mark (11 October 2013). "Interview with jailed Rana Plaza factory owner Bazlus Samad Adnan". Fifth Estate. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
- ^ Kabir, Humayun; Maple, Myfanwy; Islam, Md Shahidul; Usher, Kim (July 2019). "The Current Health and Wellbeing of the Survivors of the Rana Plaza Building Collapse in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 16 (13): 2342. doi:10.3390/ijerph16132342. ISSN 1661-7827. PMC 6651472. PMID 31269746.
- ^ The Guardian, Jason Burk, Rana Plaza: one year on from the Bangladesh factory disaster, 19 April 2014.; Henrik Maihack: Rana Plaza: the bottom-up route to workers’safety, 5 November 2014; Everyone's talking about inequality – Let's talk about the system causing it. Lessons from Bangladesh. 6 January 2014.
- ^ Richard D. Wolff (16 May 2013). Economic Development and Rana Plaza. Monthly Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
- ^ a b Colin Long (16 June 2014). After Rana Plaza. Jacobin. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
- ^ Henrik Maihack (5 November 2014). "Rana Plaza: the bottom-up route to workers' safety". OpenDemocracy.
- ^ Worker Safety & Labor Rights in Bangladesh's Garment Sector. Report prepared for the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate, 22 November 2013; Kayes Sohel (28 August 2013). "The right to form trade union? Not in RMG". Dakha Tribune.; Financial Express (Jasim Khan): Trade Unions in RMG, a tale of exploitation, 17 May 2013.
- ^ BSCI Press release for the Anniversary of the Spectrum tragedy, 10 April 2006.
- ^ "BSCI saddened by the collapse of Rana Plaza in Savar, Bangladesh". Business Social Compliance Initiative. 24 April 2013.
- ^ Maik Pflaum (March 2013). "TUV Rheinland versucht, CIR mundtot zu machen". Presente (in German). Christliche Romero Initiative. pp. 30–31.
- ^ ARD Monitor: Tuv geprüftes Leid – Wie deutsche Firmen sich in Bangladesh reinwaschen", 6 June 2013.
- ^ Tipu, Md Sanaul Islam (6 November 2014). "CID prepares charge sheets against eight public servants". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ^ "Dhaka building collapse: Dozens found alive in rubble". BBC News. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
- ^ a b "Arrest Rana, four factory owners". The Daily Star. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- ^ "Arrest of Rana, 5 RMG unit owners ordered". Bdnews24.com. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
- ^ "4 arrested, others questioned after deadly Bangladesh building collapse". CNN. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ "Garment workers remain restive". The Daily Star. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ "18-party, lefts call hartal for May 2". The Daily Star. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ "Rana arrested from Benapole". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ "Savar Tragedy, Sohel Rana Arrested". dhakastar.com. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ "Savar tragedy building owner held in Benapole". The Daily Star. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ "Dhaka building collapse: Owner Mohammed Sohel Rana 'arrested'". BBC. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ Alam, Julhas and Blake, Chris (28 April 2013). "Bangladesh Building Collapse: Fire Breaks Out In Factory Wreckage". HuffPost. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ Blake, Chris and Hossian, Farid (1 May 2013). "Bangladesh Building Collapse: Protesters Demand Worker Safety As Death Toll Tops 400" HuffPost. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ "Survivors demand wages after building collapse". Radio Australia. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ "Bangladesh building collapse death toll passes 700". BBC. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ David, Dean; Bergman, Nelson (7 May 2013). "Bangladesh building collapse: Dhaka buildings not given final safety clearance". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ "Bangladesh shuts 18 garment factories after disaster". Channel NewsAsia. Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ Burke, Jason and Hammadi, Saad (5 June 2013). Bangladesh police open fire at collapsed garment factory protest. The Guardian. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
- ^ "Bangladesh Says 7 Failed to Check Doomed Factories". Associated Press. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
- ^ Adil Sakhawat (30 August 2013). Mourners, rights activists throng Savar Archived 20 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
- ^ Jim Yardley (18 December 2013). After Bangladesh Factory Collapse, Bleak Struggle for Survivors. The New York Times. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
- ^ Police Fire Rubber Bullets At Bangladesh Factory Protesters Demanding Higher Wages Archived 25 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine The Huffington Post, 22 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
- ^ Serajul Quadir (29 November 2013).Huge Bangladesh fire destroys key garments factory. Reuters. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
- ^ "Building Code Violation Case. Bail for Rana Plaza owner". The Daily Star. Dhaka. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
- ^ a b White, Gillian B. (17 December 2015). "Are Factories in Bangladesh Any Safer Now?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ "Sohel Rana, 17 others indicted for building code violation". The Daily Star. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ "Rana Plaza tragedy: Bangladesh puts 18 on trial". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ Mason, Rowena (1 May 2013). "Nick Clegg: I shop in Primark without a 'moral calculator'". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ "Abolish slave trade, 7 May 2013". Falkirk Herald. 7 May 2013. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ Hastings, Rob (6 May 2013). "Top EU official: British MPs know nothing about Europe and pulling out of the EU would be 'a clear disaster' for Britain". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ Pope Francis Condemns 'Slave Labor' In Bangladesh: 'Goes Against God'. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ Oxfam reaction to the Savar building collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
- ^ "Tragedy shows urgency of worker protections: HRW". The Daily Star. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- ^ "Make garment factories in Bangladesh safe". LabourStart. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
- ^ Metro UK (27 April 2013). "Protesters surround Primark store on Oxford Street following Bangladesh factory deaths". Metro. UK. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ "Benetton denies to have any involvement with Bangladesh factory in their Tweet".
- ^ Tichborne, Beth (26 April 2014). "Benetton stores targeted by global protests". Indymedia UK.
- ^ It Has Saved Our Lives Archived 11 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, 17 September 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
- ^ Labowitz, Sarah; Baumann-Pauly, Dorothée (16 April 2014). Business as Usual Is Not an Option: Supply Chains & Sourcing after Rana Plaza (PDF). NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights (Report). New York City. p. 64. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ Khan, Rimi. "Three years on from Rana Plaza, is there anything to feel good about?". The Feed. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
- ^ Fox, Emily Jane (1 May 2013). "Shoppers lash out at stores over Bangladesh". CNN Money. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ Bangladesh Factory Safety Accord: At Least 14 Major North American Retailers Decline To Sign. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ^ "Global brands pull together on Bangladesh safety deal". IndustriALL press release. 23 May 2013.
- ^ Greenhouse, Steven (5 December 2012). Documents Indicate Walmart Blocked Safety Push in Bangladesh. The New York Times. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
- ^ Steven Greenhouse & Stephanie Clifford (10 July 2013). "U.S. Retailers Offer Plan for Safety at Factories". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Dov Charney on Modern Day Sweat Shops: VICE Podcast 006". YouTube.
- ^ "Creating a safer world: Brad Loewen's new super-job gives him sweeping powers to protect garment workers in Bangladesh". The Marketplace. Mennonite Economic Development Associates: 8–9. March–April 2014. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
- ^ Talaga, Tanya (22 October 2013). "Winnipegger Brad Loewen new chief inspector of 1,600 Bangladeshi factories". Toronto Star. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
- ^ "Winnipeg man to help mend Bangladesh garment industry". CBC News. 22 October 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
- ^ Kai McNamee (26 April 2023). "10 years after the deadliest garment factory accident". National Public Radio.
- ^ International Labor Rights Forum (8 June 2015). "Campaign Victory: Full Compensation Secured for Rana Plaza Victims".
- ^ Human Rights Watch (22 April 2015). "Compensation for the Victims of the Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashions Disasters".
- ^ "Garment makers to discuss Bangladesh compensation". BBC News. 11 September 2013.
- ^ a b Dhaka factory collapse: No compensation without DNA identificationBy Jane Deith, BBC News, Dhaka, 16 September 2013, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24080579
- ^ Ovi, Ibrahim Hossain (2013), "Buyers' compensation for Rana Plaza victims far from reality", Dhaka Tribune, archived from the original on 25 March 2016, retrieved 16 December 2013
- ^ Aulakh, Raveena (14 March 2014). "Rana Plaza compensation fund short millions". Toronto Star. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
- ^ "Bangladesh Rana Plaza Incident: 130 Families face the agony of Missing Bodies". news.biharprabha.com. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ^ "Bangladesh files murder charges over Rana Plaza collapse". Al Jazeera. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ Inani, Rohit (1 June 2015). "Bangladesh Factory Owner Charged With Murder Over Rana Plaza Collapse". Time. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ "Rana Plaza: Still no justice". The Financial Express. Dhaka. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ^ Ch, Chaitanya; Halder, ra; Bappi, Emrul Hasan (24 April 2021). "Rana Plaza Collapse: No progress yet in trial of murder case". The Daily Star. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- ^ "Eight years on, Rana Plaza cases locked in files". Dhaka Tribune. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- ^ Andreas Wieland; Robert B. Handfield (2013). "The Socially Responsible Supply Chain: An Imperative for Global Corporations". Supply Chain Management Review. 17 (5).
- ^ "Thousands mourn collapse victims of Rana Plaza garment factory one year on". Deutsche Welle. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ "Rana Plaza factory disaster anniversary marked by protests". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 24 April 2014. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ^ "Rana Plaza: Let Not The Hope Die". Winnipeg Film Group Catalogue. Winnipeg Film Group. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "A Wide Array of Cabaret Artists". Sarasvati Productions. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
Further reading
[edit]- Heartbreaking Bangladesh Factory Photo Shows Couple In Final Embrace (PHOTO). The Huffington Post. 8 May 2013.
- Smile, Work and Die. Vijay Prashad. Truthdig. 26 April 2013.
- Bangladesh factory collapse: Clothes made for a tenth of retail price, documents show | Toronto Star—Toronto Star, 14 May 2013
- Will Retailers Invest in Safer Conditions in Bangladesh? – YouTube (7:43)—PBS NewsHour interview
- Miller, Doug (February 2013). "Towards Sustainable Labour Costing in UK Fashion Retail" (PDF). Capturing the Gains. ISBN 978-1-907247-86-6. SSRN 2212100.
- A year after Rana Plaza: What hasn't changed since the Bangladesh factory collapse, The Washington Post, 18 April 2014
- 'Without stronger unions, Rana Plaza will happen time and time again'. The Guardian. 24 April 2014.
- 27 Arrested at The Children's Place HQ in Protest over Factory Collapse. Democracy Now! 13 March 2015.
- Akhter, Shamima (March 2014). "Endless misery of nimble fingers: the Rana Plaza disaster" (PDF). Asian Journal of Women's Studies. 20 (1): 137–147. doi:10.1080/12259276.2014.11666176. S2CID 149821857.
External links
[edit]- Building and structure collapses in 2013
- 2013 disasters in Bangladesh
- 2013 industrial disasters
- Clothing industry disasters
- Savar Upazila
- Man-made disasters in Bangladesh
- Economic history of Bangladesh
- April 2013 events in Bangladesh
- Building and structure collapses in Asia
- Textile industry of Bangladesh
- Corporate scandals
- 2010s in Dhaka