Tears and Rage as Hope Fades in Bangladesh
(excerpt)
"The Rana Plaza building contained five garment factories, employing more
than 3,000 workers, who were making clothing for European and American
consumers. Labor activists, citing customs records, company Web sites or
labels discovered in the wreckage, say that the factories produced
clothing for JC Penney; Cato Fashions; Benetton; Primark, the low-cost
British store chain; and other retailers.
Everywhere near the building, the stench of death was overpowering. Men
in surgical masks sprayed disinfectant in the air. Others sprayed air
freshener. At one point, the police said, searches inside the structure
were suspended because some rescuers were overcome by dust and the odor
of decomposing bodies.
Savar is a crowded industrial suburb of Dhaka, the capital of
Bangladesh, and the disaster has overwhelmed local institutions. A high
school near Rana Plaza is now a staging ground for the identification of
corpses. Nazma Begum, 25, stood beside a crude coffin that contained
the remains of her sister, Shamima. She was standing guard over it until
her father arrived to take the sister back to their home village to be
buried. Sticks of burning incense had been wedged into the coffin to
fight the awful smell.
“I had hoped that my sister was still alive,” she said softly. “But that hope is now shattered.”
Like so many young women in the country, the two sisters had gotten work
in garment factories to help support their families. Ms. Begum makes
about $85 a month; her sister made $56. Now Ms. Begum wants to quit her
job. She has heard rumors that the building where she works is unsafe."
Jim Yardley
The New York Times
