Woman rescued alive after 17 days under rubble

DHAKA A woman has been rescued after spending 17 days under the wreckage of a collapsed factory building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. More than 1,000 died when the structure collapsed last month. Woman rescued alive after 17 days under rubble The rescuers said that the woman was trapped in the basement and had no serious injuries. The teams said she waved her hand through the debris when they called out. "She has been located in a gap between a beam and a column. Her name is Reshmi. She may have reserves of water or have drunk some of the water that we've pumped into the building," firefighters chief Ahmed Ali told AFP. A crowd gathered at the site to welcome the rescue with applause, reports said. "She's in an incredibly good condition considering everything she has been through in the past 17 days. She was even able to walk," one of the rescuers said after Reshmi was rushed to the nearest hospital. Immediately after the building collapsed, some 2,500 people were brought to safety from its ruins, but after 72 hours the rescuers said they did not expect to find anyone else alive. It was announced earlier today that the death toll had reached 1,035 people. AFP reports that more than 3,000 workers were on shift on the morning of April 24 when the building suddenly caved in. Most were earning around USD 40 a month to make clothing for Western brands such as Italy's Benetton, Britain's Primark and the Spanish label Mango. The preliminary findings of a government probe blamed vibrations from four giant generators on the upper floors for triggering the collapse. Police have arrested 12 people including the plaza's owner and four factory bosses for forcing people to work on the day of the disaster, even though cracks appeared in the structure the day before. The survivor is pulled out from the rubble (Beta/AP/Parvez Ahmad Rony) B92 AFP

Woman rescued alive after 17 days under rubble

The rescuers said that the woman was trapped in the basement and had no serious injuries. The teams said she waved her hand through the debris when they called out.

"She has been located in a gap between a beam and a column. Her name is Reshmi. She may have reserves of water or have drunk some of the water that we've pumped into the building," firefighters chief Ahmed Ali told AFP.

A crowd gathered at the site to welcome the rescue with applause, reports said.

"She's in an incredibly good condition considering everything she has been through in the past 17 days. She was even able to walk," one of the rescuers said after Reshmi was rushed to the nearest hospital.

Immediately after the building collapsed, some 2,500 people were brought to safety from its ruins, but after 72 hours the rescuers said they did not expect to find anyone else alive.

It was announced earlier today that the death toll had reached 1,035 people.

AFP reports that more than 3,000 workers were on shift on the morning of April 24 when the building suddenly caved in. Most were earning around USD 40 a month to make clothing for Western brands such as Italy's Benetton, Britain's Primark and the Spanish label Mango.

The preliminary findings of a government probe blamed vibrations from four giant generators on the upper floors for triggering the collapse.

Police have arrested 12 people including the plaza's owner and four factory bosses for forcing people to work on the day of the disaster, even though cracks appeared in the structure the day before.