Rescue efforts called off in Bangladesh collapse

(Vatican Radio) Almost a week after a clothing factory building collapsed in Bangladesh, at least 385 people are known to have died -- and perhaps hundreds more remain missing. But the rescue effort is now being called off, and the building owner has appeared before a court. Rescuers climbing over the rubble are now giving way to heavy equipment to clear the concrete, calling off the search for survivors.

On Monday, the building's owner appeared in court. Authorities said they caught him trying to flee Bangladesh.

This was the third such industrial disaster for Bangladesh in five
months: in November, a fire at a similar clothing factory killed 112 people. The latest incident has sparked protests, by some of the nation's 3.6 million clothing-industry labourers, many of whom work for wages as low as a dollar a day in factories that they say are hazardous.

On Monday, many factories remained closed as supervisors tried to defuse the tension. The United Nations labour agency, the International Labour Organisation, called for "action now" to prevent future tragedy. It said it would send a mission to Bangladesh. Also. Two western cut-price clothing chains -- in Britain and Canada -- said they would compensate the victims' families.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh's home affairs minister has defended his country's
rejection of help finding victims offered by foreign nations, saying
Bangladesh's emergency services had most of the skill and equipment
needed. Muhiuddin Alamgir was speaking to Britain's BBC broadcaster.

Listen to Alastair Wanklyn’s full report: