Five years on, Bangladesh factory disaster survivors await justice
There is mounting anger this anniversary over slow pace of court cases against those arrested
The pain of waiting 10 hours with her leg crushed by bodies under the rubble of the Rana Plaza factory was hell for Nilofer Begum. But the fiveyear wait for justice has been just as agonising.
Tomorrow, Bangladesh will mark the fifth anniversary of one of the world’s worst industrial disasters, a building collapse that killed more than 1,130 workers and spotlighted the Western clothing brands benefiting from the country’s low wages.
But there is mounting anger this anniversary over the glacial pace of the court case against those arrested in the aftermath of the tragedy.
The weight of three bodies and rubble crippled Begum’s right leg on April 24, 2013.
The 38-year-old has had to undergo operations which have cost twice the $3,500 (Dh12,845) compensation she received, forcing her to borrow from relatives and charities.
“I am counting the hours to my death. The muscles in my leg are wasting away. My kidneys are failing,” Begum, who now runs a grocer’s store near the factory ruins, told AFP.
More than 2,000 workers from the nine-storey complex have similar stories. Many have spent all their compensation on medical bills, according to ActionAid Bangladesh.
“None of us wanted to enter the factories that day,” she recalled. “They forced us to work despite pillars that crumbled the day before. Five years have passed and no one has been tried or punished.”