What follows is an eyewitness account of the rescue efforts at the collapsed factory building in Bangladesh. The translation was sent to us with a request to post it. It shows the heroism of the masses, who have been risking their own lives to save the trapped workers, in contrast to the army which poses with bodies to appear as if they were the ones doing the rescue work.
– One Struggle
***
By Anha F. Khan
Translator: Saiful Islam
What we are seeing on facebook and media, and what I really saw:
It happened on 24th April, Thursday. Usual question: what can I do now? When the death toll crossed 25 I decided to go to Savar, to join the rescue operation. But after the live telecast I thought it was a wrong decision. The presence of more than necessary generous volunteers was making trouble for the operation. I became optimistic when I heard the announcement that, “The operation will be carried on until the last soul is rescued”– then I become reassured, I bow down my head to the army and other forces, volunteers associated with the rescue operation.
I saw some writings distrusting the rescue operation on face book, which I ignored. I moved my concentration to the support of victims, trusting the operation. (The absence of proper logistics.: why? Ignored this burning question to move on with, I made the delivery of Blood, Drugs, Water, Saline, Cutter, Mask, the first priority.) But on the second night I got scared by reading Kallol Mustafa’s Facebook status. He wrote: “At last by the help of a media worker [I was able to reach] the commanding officer colonel Imran. He deployed some people along with the necessary equipments after showing the backside of the crushed building. With those equipments the work was actually being done by the civilians, like woodworkers and construction workers.” Now our target is the three alive souls on the 5th floor. Don’t know if they could be rescued alive, the remorse is what we have to show them after two days! They work here and there when there is no state deployed team to rescue the peoples!
I reached Savar the next day, that means 26th April, Friday. Police and RAB(Rapid Action Battalion) was doing their job. But work was being hampered because of the enormous crowd! It could be seen from the outside that the rescuing was being carried on at the upper side of the Rana Plaza and through the left side of the RS Plaza to Rana Plaza. At the outside there was basically fire service team along with some various voluntary team and personals and some one or two army personnel. The same question popped out in my head which I was carrying from facebook: Where is rest of the force?? I want to know, but for that I have to go to the inside. Unfortunately as a member of the mass people I don’t have that permission. To speak honestly, one shouldn’t have the permission in a operation like this.
By the help from one of my senior friends who currently is working in a TV channel, I got the chance and went inside disguised as a media worker by carrying a tripod which weight was not less than myself.
At first I went towards the backside of the Rana and RS Plaza. But nothing was going on there. A group of young boys was trying to just start the rescue work. When I arrived, some 50-60 army personnel, 30 police and some 20 to 22 riot police were there. Came to know that some Hefajot (Hefajot Islam Bangladesh, a Islamic political party based in Bangladesh) supporters were through lamp of brick from the second and third floor. For that reason the army officers commanded the people around there to leave the place along with the Hefajot supporters. Then the Hefajots fled from there and took shelter behind the unfinished RS Plaza.
And the teenagers replied that they were not going anywhere. They would carry on: the army neither was doing their job nor were they letting them do theirs. They also said that the army was just showing off. As a result of this, the officer carrying a hand mic claming himself as a Major General (if I am not mistaken) suddenly got very angry towards the people who were looking from the building, and ordered the police to teach them a lesson. He proclaimed, “I am a Major General. I am telling the police if you stay there, every one of’ them will lose your job.”etc. Scared polices rushed away from there and shot tear gas shell and rubber bullets towards the civilians on the buildings. And the young boys climbing down from rescuing place were told: “Run,” and when running they were beaten out off the boundary by the army and when they stop, army told them: “Run.”
The boys who didn’t run were still working. I went ahead towards the heap. There flying flies.
Six or seven dead could be identified if seen carefully. One was very near. Swelled three time bigger than normal, a corpse was lying in prostrate position. Wearing a full sleeve kamiz. The hands were like a water filled cloth bags. Something was melting down inside the mouth, butter colored. At that moment three people came there, a young girl’s photograph in hand. They identified: this was the corpse they were looking for.
But the corpse couldn’t be taken unharmed. The building would collapse again if we attempt to take out the corpse separately. This was the back stairs place. The rubble here was relatively small. To me it would be very easy for the army to take away that rubble with the helicopter or crane.
Then I went to the top floor through the RS Plaza’s back stairs. The fire service workers were working along with the volunteers. I saw one or two army soldiers here and there with them. They were digging through the walls from this building to reach the Rana Plaza. After a regular break there was a hand or a leg or a head, where rest of the body was crushed. I was climbing down the tunnel, seeing around. A sudden Excitement! An alive body just been taken out and there were some left inside. The rescuer handed over the body to the ambulance on a stretcher. When the same procedure was done to the second body, the army soldiers took the stretcher at the half way point, and delivered it to the ambulance. At first I didn’t realize. When all the twelve bodies were taken by the army just when they arrived at the stairs, then I understood. The volunteers were not in the photo session competition with the army. They left this part willingly. They just wanted to save the lives.
I climbed down another step. Numerous khaki outfits. I became reassured. I thought at least in this floor they are working. But, O sweet lord! This is the ground floor! They are maintaining Entry-Exit process!
Met a familiar journalist. After some talking he showed me a blue laced ID card. Card No: 21109, name Mariam. Said, “Maybe [it was] left behind when she got out of the building.”
I tried to say it might not be, probably now, the corpse: she is one of them now. But I didn’t. No one knows really. Suddenly he vanished by saying, “have to go.” The card was still in my hand. Searching for him around, and then it popped into my mind that as a journalist he wouldn’t do this by mistake. I was thinking, did he assign 1990-born Mariam onto my shoulder, [for him] to be relieved? (I became sure about my conjecture after seeing his facebook status) After seeing so many misbehaviors and threats by the army personnel towards the volunteers, then I said by seeing his helpless sorrow, Alas, Seleucus!
Those who were at the outside helping the rescuing operation, most of them had the necessary equipments like helmet, gloves, mask. On the contrary those who were doing the real job inside were not well decorated. We collected money from thousands of people, and bought necessary helmets, gloves, masks etc and sent them, but those equipments didn’t reach the right place. They were announcing that the rescuing operation was going well under the “supervision of the Honorable MP Murad Jong” , [calling it the] “Highest endeavor of the Army ,” and with the help of “others” … “Just now four more dead bodies just rescued by the ARMY.” Those types of peculiar sentences were coming from the announcements.
I came back before dawn. Just at that moment a father lifted a heavy weight onto my shoulder. Handed me a A4 paper, told me: call me if rescued. Then went away silently.
“Asked For” was written there with a photograph, name, address, phone number. Along with this another couple of words were there: Dead or Alive!
