Bangladesh building collapse death toll surpasses 900

Death toll from a collapsed building in Bangladesh that housed garment factories climbed well over 900, authorities said Thursday. Rescue teams have saved more than 2,400 people since the April 24 collapse of the eight storey Rana Plaza, home to five garment factories in Savar, a subdistrict of capital Dhaka. The incident is regarded as the deadliest industrial tragedy in the South Asian country and it came only five months after a deadly fire in the Tazreen Fashion factory outside the capital which killed 112 workers and injured over 100. In a separate development, a fire broke out Thursday night in an eleven storey garment factory in the capital's Darussalam district, killing at least eight people, including the owner. The Rana disaster highlighted the country's notoriously unsafe garment industry plagued by government's lack of regard for safety violations, the difficulties workers face in creating unions, and the pressure from multinational corporations on factory owners and managers for high volume production for low prices. The Bangladeshi government is facing increasing criticisms from the international community for its negligence, to which it responded with a number of moves to rectify the safety issues. Following Rana Plaza collapse, the government shut down 18 factories in Chittagong and Dhaka for safety reasons and pledged to reform labor laws with a view to improving inspection mechanisms and establishing standard safety measures in factories. Bangladesh, the second largest apparel exporter after China, has a $20 billion garment sector that accounts for about 80 percent of its exports. According to estimates from the government and non-governmental organizations, the death toll at factories has exceeded 1,000 in the country since 2006. Bangladesh's apparel industry has recently been facing increasing competition from rivals. A notable example is Myanmar, which is expected to see a boost in its clothing sector after the United States and European nations loosened export restrictions on the country.