Four die as factory falls down

2005-04-11 10:30

Savar, Bangladesh - A nine-story garment factory collapsed following a boiler explosion early on Monday, killing at least four people and trapping at least 200 others, police and rescuers said.

At least 300 people - many of them women - were in the factory at the time of the explosion and collapse near Savar industrial town, 32km northwest of the capital Dhaka, police said.

Rescuers recovered four bodies, they said, but many were trapped beneath the rubble of the sweater-making factory.

"Four bodies have so far been recovered and we fear more than 200 people are still beneath the rubble," said Selim Newaz Bhuiyan, a fire brigade official at the scene.

At least 27 injured workers have been pulled out from the debris of tons of concrete and they have been taken to hospitals, he said.

Mohammad Alam, a supervisor at the factory, said dozens of workers were rescued.

Rescuers used welding machines to cut holes in the rubble to try to reach trapped people or pump air into to survivors still trapped.

Anxious relatives joined soldiers and fire fighters who used bare hands and crowbars to sift through the rubble.

"My brother was working in the factory. He is missing," said Munni Akthar, who works in another garment factory.

The government has ordered an investigation into the accident, said Lutfozzaman Babar, junior home minister, after visiting the site.

The collapsed factory was built on a swamp three years ago, workers said.

- AP