On 24 April 2013, the eight storey commercial building in Savar, Rana Plaza that housed several Garments factories, collapsed. Approximately 2,515 injured people were rescued alive. Search operation for the dead ended after 21 days of the incident, on 13 May 2013 with the death toll of 1,136. It is considered to be the biggest garment-factory accident in history, as well as the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history.

Garment factories decided to ignore the warnings given the day before, workers were forced to work despite the fear of cracks. This tragedy will remind us how a nation united to help humanity at that crucial time. There are some snapshots during that crisis moment which will keep on making us proud – the hospitals, Enam Hospital in particular, efforts of thousands of volunteers –students, workers, rickshaw pullers, who actually defied death to reach every nook and corner of the concrete jungle even before the trained rescuers could go and dragged out the trapped ones; the pharmaceutical companies rushing medicines to the hospital free of cost; the big infrastructure companies mobilising their cranes and equipment which otherwise were not available with the fire department to pull apart the slabs; the army officers and jawans working night and day with their equipment.

More efforts need to be done to adequately support victims of the collapse of Rana Plaza and primary responsibility for protecting workers rights rests with the government.

Some further news and articles:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/op-ed/2015/apr/21/rana-plaza-still-our-shame
http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/64451/Calls-for-pay-up-by-Rana-Plaza-anniversary