Bangladeshis mourn 1,136 victims of worst-ever Rana Plaza industrial tragedy

 

DHAKA, April 24. Thousands of Bangladeshis participated in memorial events Tuesday for 1,136 people, mostly garment workers, who died in the country’s worst-ever industrial tragedy five years ago.

Hundreds of grieving family members and injured victims gathered for an event at a memorial at the tragedy site in Savar on the outskirts of capital Dhaka on Tuesday morning.

Different social and political organizations sponsored programs, marking the 5th anniversary of the horrendous tragedy in which 1,136 were confirmed dead while more than 2,000 workers were injured as the eight-story building — Rana Plaza — housing five garment factories crumbled into a cement grave on April 24, 2013.

Members of various government and non-government organizations also attended the event and placed floral wreaths at the disaster site. They also paid tributes to the victims by placing wreaths on their graves in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.

Special prayers were offered seeking divine blessings for the peace of the departed souls.
Like previous years the National Garments Workers’ Federation on Tuesday morning brought out a mourning procession in the city to commemorate the tragedy and its victims.

From the memorial events grieving family members and workers’ organizations demanded appropriate compensation for victims and their relatives.

They also demanded capital punishment for the building owner, Sohel Rana who is now behind the bar.

Rana is blamed for forcing the workers to enter the factories on that day though big cracks appeared in the building a day earlier. Enditem