Building Collapse

Thane building collapse case: Two get bail

Thane: The local court on Saturday granted bail to two persons in the Mumbra building crash case. Judge KR Warrier granted bail to Ramdas Burud, a driver to one of the accused officials of Thane Municipal Commissioner, and Afroz Ansari, who had supplied materials for the ill-fated building, against personal bonds of Rs 15,000.

Burud is accused of being a conduit between officials and the builder for bribes. The court, however, rejected the bail applications of police constable Jehangir Sayeed, TMC engineer Subash Rawal and TMC officials Subash Waghmare, Kisan Madke and Vishnu Gumre.

The court had on Friday rejected the bail pleas of Deputy Municipal Commissioners Deepak Chavan, Shreekant Sarmokdam and Assistant Municipal Commissioner Shyam Thorbole and engineer Ramesh Inamdar.

Seventy-four persons were killed when an unauthorised building came crashing down in Mumbra area of Thane district on April 4. Corporation officials are accused of turning a blind eye to the construction after taking bribes. A total of 22 persons have been arrested in the case....more    

Gujarat: Floors of a residential building collapse

Vadodara: The top two floors of a five-storey residential building in Vadodara collapsed on Friday night, hours after all the occupants had evacuated it. "Mahavir Swami Apartment located in Kapdipole area of Raopura had developed cracks and started leaning in the wee hours today," acting city engineer of Vadodara Municipal Corporation Shailesh Mistr said. The 16 families living there were asked to vacate and power and piped gas supply to...  

Thane building collapse: Court refuses bail to officials

Thane: A local court on Friday rejected the bail applications of four officials of Thane Municipal Corporation in a case related to last month's building collapse in the district in which 74 persons were killed. Judge KR Warrier said as the probe was on and the chargesheet was yet to be filed, bail can not be granted. He rejected the applications of Deputy Municipal Commissioners Deepak Chavan and Srikant Sarmokadam,...  

Bangladesh building collapse: Woman rescued alive after 17 days

Reshma told reporters that she survived on filthy water and a few biscuits as everyone around her died. ...

Bangladesh building collapse: Mourners pray as army wraps up rescue op

Dhaka: Thousands of mourners gathered on Tuesday at the wreckage of the Bangladesh's worst building disaster to offer prayers for the 1,127 people who died when the eight-storeyed structure collapsed in April. The Islamic prayer service was held a day after the army ended the nearly three week, painstaking search for bodies among the rubble and turned control of the site over to the civilian government for cleanup. A statement...  

Search ends in Bangladesh; death toll put at 1127

Savar: Several of the biggest Western retailers embraced a plan that would require them to pay for factory improvements in Bangladesh as the three-week search for victims of the worst garment-industry disaster in history ended on Monday with the death toll at a staggering 1,127. Bangladesh's government also agreed to allow garment workers to form unions without permission from factory owners. That decision came a day after it announced a...  

Bangladesh building collapse toll goes past 1,100

Savar: The death toll in Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster on Sunday rose to 1,125 after 15 more decomposed bodies were recovered from the debris of the ill-fated eight-storey building, 19 days after the tragedy. Rain has caused delays in recovery operations as overnight rainstorms forced rescuers to suspend work for several hours, and more rain today morning caused a brief delay. By afternoon, crews were back at work as they...  

Survived only on 2 bottles of water: Bangladesh survivor

Hundreds of onlookers burst into cheers as army engineers pulled out a woman from the basement of the building after 17 days. ...

Bangladesh building collapse: Woman rescued alive after 17 days

Dhaka: A woman was rescued on Friday after spending 17 days trapped under the rubble of a Bangladesh factory building that collapsed on April 24, killing more than 1,000 people, police and military officials said. Bangladeshi television channels broadcast live footage of emergency service workers pulling the woman from the collapsed building, as onlookers burst into cheers. The woman, identified by Bangladeshi media only as Reshma, was shown being carried...  

Bangladesh factory building collapse death toll hits 1,021

Dhaka: The death toll from a garment factory building that collapsed more than two weeks ago outside the Bangladeshi capital soared past 1,000 on Friday, while the list of the dead from a fresh fire at a sweater manufacturer showed the entanglement of the industry and top Bangladeshi officials. Officials said 1,021 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of the fallen factory building as of Friday morning. There was...  

Thane building collapse: Nurse seeks to adopt survivor

Mumbai: Scarred by the loss of her loved ones in the horrific building collapse in Mumbra in Thane - Sandhya Thakkur, after being miraculously rescued was unable to even open her eyes to those tending to her at the hospital. The little girl symbolised the tragedy in Mumbra. But now, there is hope for her. Veena Kandle, a nurse at the Sion hospital believes destiny got them together. Veena said,...  

Bangladesh building collapse toll reaches 931

Savar: The death toll in Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster on Thursday rose to 931 as rescuers overnight pulled out 97 more decomposed bodies from sandwiched floors of the ill-fated eight-storey building that collapsed in April. "Ninety seven more bodies were retrieved since Wednesday night ... the figure now stands at 931," an official of the makeshift army control room told reporters as the military-led salvage operation entered the 16th day...  

Thane building collapse: Prosecution opposes accused's bail plea

Thane: The prosecution in the Thane building crash case on Tuesday opposed the bail pleas of two senior municipal officers arrested for the tragedy which claimed the lives of 74 people last month. Suspended Deputy Municipal Commissioner Deepak Chavan and Assistant Municipal Commissioner Shayam Thorbole were among 22 persons arrested for the collapse of a seven-storey unauthorised building in Shil-Phata area. Assistant Public Prosecutor Hemlata Deshmukh opposed the bail applications...  

Bangladesh building collapse toll climbs to 700

Dhaka: The death in the worst-ever industrial disaster in Bangladesh rose to nearly 700 as rescuers on Tuesday pulled out 18 more decomposed bodies from the debris of the ill-fated eight-storey building that toppled down in April. Officials at the Army control room, which is opened to provide information on the tragedy, said with the fresh recovery, the death toll from the deadly building collapse soared to 697. The officials,...  

Bangladesh building collapse toll tops 640

Dhaka: Bangladeshi police are investigating possible murder charges against the owner of a shoddily built factory that collapsed nearly two weeks ago after the wife of a garment worker crushed in the accident filed a complaint. The legal development comes as officials on Monday said that the death toll from the country's worst industrial disaster had reached 645. Sheuli Akter, wife of Jahangir Alam, filed the complaint with Dhaka magistrate...  

Bangladesh: Building owner faces murder complaint

Dhaka: The wife of a Bangladeshi garment worker who was killed when a building collapsed filed a murder complaint against the building's owner on Sunday as the death toll from the country's worst industrial disaster climbed to 622. Murder complaints were also filed against the owner of one of the garment factories inside the building and a municipal engineer in the suburb of the capital, Dhaka, where the factory was...  

Bangladesh building collapse toll nears 600

Dhaka: The toll in the building collapse on the outskirts of Bangladesh capital Dhaka has swelled to nearly 600, authorities said on Sunday, even as rescuers continued removing concrete slabs and debris 12 days after the industrial tragedy. Hoping to find their missing loved ones, many people were seen around the scene of the collapse and visiting nearby hospitals and a school ground where the bodies have been kept for...  

Bangladesh building collapse toll exceeds 500, engineer arrested

Dhaka: Police on Friday arrested an engineer for negligence in duty in connection with the worst building collapse in Bangladesh that left at least 509 people dead. Abdur Razzak Khan worked as consultant when the owner of the eight-story Rana Plaza in suburban Savar illegally added three floors atop the ill-fated building, a police official told newsmen. 63 more bodies were on Friday retrieved from the debris 10th day into...  

Building collapse: Pressure on retailers to fix factories

Dhaka: In the aftermath of a building collapse that killed more than 500 people, Bangladesh's garment manufacturers may face a choice of reform or perish. Home to five factories that supplied clothing to retailers in Europe and the United States, the shoddily constructed building's collapse has put a focus on the high human price paid when Bangladeshi government ineptitude, Western consumer apathy and global retailing's drive for the lowest cost...  

Bangladesh: Disaster not 'really serious', says minister

Dhaka: Bangladesh's finance minister has downplayed the impact of last week's factory-building collapse on his country's garment industry, saying he didn't think it was "really serious" hours after the 500th body was pulled from the debris. Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith spoke today as the government cracked down on those it blamed for the disaster in the Dhaka suburb of Savar. It suspended Savar's mayor and arrested an engineer...