Death toll in Bangladesh building collapse tops 500

The death toll from Bangladesh’s worst industrial accident rose to 501 on Friday, with scores of relatives still gathered at the site in a Dhaka suburb searching for missing loved ones.

Police investigating the collapse of the factory complex are now holding nine people over the April 24 disaster, which has put the spotlight on the many Western clothing retailers who use Bangladesh as a source of cheap goods.

Soldiers and volunteers at the site were still picking through the debris on Friday as more bodies of garment workers were recovered.

Relatives clutching photographs of loved ones have been gathered nearby since the disaster, attesting to the many more victims still missing.

One woman said there had been no news on her daughter, who had just begun working at a factory in the building.

“The name of my daughter is Mallika, and her daughter is Aklima,” Bulbuli said. “My daughter is missing. Till today she is missing. She was working in that factory on the fourth floor. She joined three months ago. There’s no trace of her as yet.”

As bodies pulled from the rubble were laid out for identification, one volunteer said the death toll was still rising.

“Since last night till now we have found 40 bodies,” Jalil Miah said. “The numbers are increasing. Still bodies are coming.”

An engineer, who warned the eight-storey complex was unsafe, is the latest person to be arrested in connection with the collapse.

Engineer Adbur Razzak had been called to Rana Plaza in Savar, 30 kilometres north of the capital, by its owner when cracks appeared in concrete pillars the day before the accident.

Police said he had been arrested because he had been involved in the original construction of the building.

Loblaw Companies Ltd. — who used a factory in the building to produce clothes for its Joe Fresh line — announced on Thursday that going forward, it will have its own staff help with inspections of its suppliers.

With files from CityNews.ca staff