Bangladesh factory survivor speaks of escape after 17 days under rubble

A woman pulled from the rubble of a collapsed Bangladeshi factory on Friday 11^th May has spoken out about her ordeal, saying that she “never dreamed” she would make it out of the wreckage alive.

Reshma Begum, a seamstress at the collapsed Rana Plaza factory in Savar, was rescued 17 days after the building collapsed.

Speaking of how she survived her entrapment Reshma explained she had lived on dried food which lasted for 15 days, and nearby water which lasted for the duration of the 17 days. She said: “I used to drink only a limited quantity of water to save it. I had some bottles of water around me.”

Reshma’s rescue came 12 days after the last survivor had been pulled from the rubble, and authorities did not hold out a great deal of hope for further rescues, instead turning their attention to the recovery of the bodies of the deceased. The current number of deaths is reported to be above 1,000 making this one of the worst industrial disasters to date.

Reshma told the private Somoy TV: “I heard the voices of the rescue workers for the past several days. I kept hitting the wreckage with sticks and rods just to attract their attention. No one heard me, it was so bad for me. I never dreamed I’d see the daylight again.”

Although Reshma has reported that there were no other survivors near her, the search for survivors has now been renewed in case there is anyone else alive in the wreckage.

Joe Mimran, founder of Joe Fresh has promised that factory inspections will now be carried out as part of audits. He stated: “We must do a much better job of ensuring the safety of workers producing our products in Bangladesh and around the world.”

Molly Kersey