On April 24, 2013, an 8-storey building in Bangladesh Sawa suddenly collapsed. After searching on 19 days, it was finally confirmed that the death toll was as high as 1,127 and about 2,500 were injured.
This incident directly destroyed the collapse of Sanfeng Department Store in Seoul, South Korea in 1995, and became the disaster event with the largest number of deaths in the world.
Global trade unions call it a "massive industrial murder case", fashion magazines describe it as a "tragedy of epic scale"
So what is the reason for this collapse? How did Bangladesh settle a large number of victims and families?
Figure 1 Collapsed building
Let us freeze the time on Wednesday, April 24, 2013 to restore the accident.
The building that collapsed instantly
The building that happened to the accident was called Gena Square.
The boss is Soher Gena, born in 1978, at the time of the incident, the name of the square was named after him.
This person can be said to be both black and white in Bangladesh, both in business and politics.
First and second floor are banks, nurseries, shops, restaurants and some small factories that produce other goods.
Four large garment factories occupy the other six floors. They undertake clothing manufacturing business for big-name companies such as Gucci, Versace, and HM. The entire building has about 5,000 workers on duty all year round.
Figure 2 Building before the accident
As a clothing exporter second only to China and Italy, Bangladesh has 5,000 garment factories and 3.6 million garment workers.
85% to 90% of them are female workers, and their low labor prices and delicate garment making techniques are loved by capitalists.
Gena Square is just a small microcosm. These young lives never thought that they would be buried in this building one day.
At 8:45 in the morning, a beautiful morning as usual.
The workers in Gena Square are busy working, they are making noise and complaining about the inhumane boss.
Around nine o'clock, the floor suddenly tilted, the pillars and beams collapsed, and the thunderous roar shook everyone's eardrums.
Figure 3 Bangladesh garment female worker
In just ninety seconds, except for the unopened banks on the first floor, this giant square was razed to the ground in an instant.
became a large group of unseen ruins, overwhelming countless creatures.
After the collapse of the building, people around quickly gathered in the square to prepare for rescue. What caught my eye were the wailings everywhere and broken hands and feet.
The parents of the nursery arrived at the first time, but they found the child's body.
The garment worker who survived the accident later said that a big crack had appeared on the wall of the building the day before the building collapsed.
After the supervisor discovered it, he notified the engineer to go to the site for inspection. After the inspection, he told the supervisor that the building may collapse at any time and there are serious safety hazards and everyone needs to be evacuated immediately.
Figure 4 Building distribution model and defects
So, all workers were notified to leave and wait for inspection results.
But early Wednesday morning, the workers were asked to return to their posts, saying the building had been inspected and declared safe.
Supervisors have brought threats to social idle people holding sticks, saying that those who do not work will be deducted for one month's salary and will be fired.
Everyone returned to their posts under this kind of force.
They were forced to bear thirteen to fourteen hours of work every day when we were arguing over 996, and they were forced to bear thirteen to fourteen hours a day, every week.
, with a poor monthly salary of thirty-eight dollars, finally died with the building that squeezed himself.
You may wonder why these workers will return to the building without regard to danger?
Figure 5 Rescue after the collapse
Because most of them have been owed for months, once they are fired, it will be difficult for them to recover their owed wages.
Workers in Bangladesh are prohibited from forming unions privately, and no organization will uphold justice for them.
They are the fish on the sticky board, and they can be slaughtered by the capitalists. The sudden collapse of the
building attracted the attention of countless people around the world to this garment factory.
The United Nations realized the seriousness of the disaster and consulted with Western diplomats.
to assess whether Bangladesh has sufficient financial resources to carry out effective rescue operations and contact governments to determine which countries can send rescue teams and heavy lifting equipment .
The UK has offered to donate.
Figure 6 The family of the worker who was crying
But all of this was rejected by Bangladesh.
They are worried that receiving aid will damage national pride, which is the so-called "face".
As the saying goes, you have to live with face.
Rescue operations that reject external help ultimately rely on local volunteers without protective clothing, most of whom are relatives of missing people.
The government sent a very small number of doctors. When they were too busy, they threw technical work such as amputation to volunteers that required surgery.
And this happened more than once or twice.
April 27, the third day after the accident.
Rescue workers working deep in the ruins were told to leave, and firefighters came in with cranes and began lifting the collapsed concrete blocks.
Figure 6 Rescue team searches and rescues
You should know that this is very likely to cause a collapse again, depriving survivors of already slim hope.
Although they are operating carefully, they try not to destroy the dead body.
Unfortunately, unfortunately came again. In the afternoon of the same day, a metal cutting machine ignited the rags in the rubble, which triggered a fire. The operation of
was stopped and four firefighters were taken to the hospital.
When the fire broke out, rescuers were originally rescuing a trapped woman.
, but the woman's name was not on the surviving list later. There are many examples like
, and there are countless examples.
In the search on the seventeenth day, the search and rescue team rescued a woman named Resima Beckham.
She lived under the ruins with biscuits and bottled water for 17 days, and was almost injured when she was rescued.
Figure 8 The rescued survivor
In an interview, she said that she never thought she would come back alive. She vowed, "I will never work in a clothing factory again."
But such a miracle only came to a few people.
In a total of nineteen days of search and rescue, most of the time the search and rescuers could only hear the trapped people silently recite prayers.
Finally, silently died, or some survivors were nailed between concrete slabs in the ruins.
They looked at the search and rescue personnel with tears in their eyes and said, "I want to survive. I still have two young children." The search and rescue personnel were helpless.
Finally, after statistics, the accident caused 1127 deaths and about 2500 injuries.
But it is said that this is a unilateral massacre of humans by non-organisms, and humans can only be forced to bear it.
Figure 9 The frightened people
causing such a large casualty is also inseparable from Bangladesh's worthless face.
Aftermath is difficult to calm down public anger
After the accident, the Bangladesh cabinet made some aftermath.
First, a new minimum wage committee will be established, which will propose a salary increase within three months.
The next day approved the amendment to the 2006 " Labor Law ", lifting restrictions on the establishment of trade unions in most industries.
Now, clothing workers can form unions without their boss’ permission, and these two resolutions are considered a huge concession made by the Bangladesh government.
But the cause of the accident and the accountability of the relevant personnel did not mention at all.
Thousands of workers went on strike and marched in the streets to support the victims of Gena Square.
Figure 10 Hand holding photos of the victims asking for an explanation
They smashed the government building with stones and had a strong conflict with the local armed forces.
requires exploiters who cause the collapse of buildings and order employees to go to work to bear the punishment they deserve.
The Bangladesh government then began to investigate the cause of the accident and initially determined that the accident was caused by vibrations caused by self-produced generators, etc.
So I continued to investigate, the more I was more frightened, and the more I investigated, the more I became scared.
It turned out that the building was built in 2006, when authorities approved them to build only four floors.
But the owner of the building, Soher Gena, built the fifth to eighth floors in violation of regulations from 2008 to 2012 without permission from the security agency.
. None of these layers have load-bearing walls, and they cut corners during the construction process.
Figure 11 Generator
Each column has only nine thin iron rods. Therefore, the several generators weighing dozens of tons that vibrated at the same time became the last straw that crushed the building.
So how did Gena achieve the purpose of building floors without permission without being punished?
Soher Gena
It turned out that in the early 21st century, Gena's father took him to Bangladesh.
In 2003, he began to engage in land transactions and built the Gena oil plant on a small piece of land given by his father.
He threatened the owner next to the oil factory and forcibly bought the big pond next to the house.
This is the location of Gena Square later. About 60% of the buildings in Gena Square are built on the filled ponds.
The building structure was not stable enough from the beginning.
Figure 12 Soher Gena
Gena decided to turn from business to politics after his career stabilized.
became a political activist under the sponsorship of the local supreme leader.
He was sent to maintain the public security management of Savar Commercial Street, thus forming his own gangster organization and becoming a nearby local emperor.
At the same time, he began to involve illegal transactions such as drugs.
They have accumulated a lot of ill-gotten gains in the past ten years and have successively established Gena Square with their posters.
A luxury house, two brick kilns, and several acres of land.
By 2010, Geno's political career reached a new peak.
He became the senior joint convener of the ruling party People's League, Youth Front Juba Alliance in Sarval City.
Figure 13 Bangladesh People's Union MP kissed Gena's forehead
He was very interested in this and made people posters everywhere in Sarval. On the poster is a photo of him and the head of the Juba League.
So in politics, some people provide a protective umbrella for Gena, so that its evil forces can also double their strength.
But after the incident in Gena Square, the person who once hid behind Gena to support Gena immediately drew a clear line with him and pushed everything on Gena.
They avoid their mistakes and hate what Gena does.
The chief of Juba League claimed that
" is obvious, Gena is a self-proclaimed leader of Juba League. For his own benefit he created the position of senior co-convener ".
The mayor directly refused to face guests, as if in this way, he could hide himself in the shell and let everything in the past disappear completely.
Figure 14 Media reports
For a time, Gena, which was once a glorious, became a dog that everyone insulted.
All officials who have received the benefits of overheating want to eat their bones, so as to prove to everyone that I have nothing to do with him, I am innocent.
Their affairs remained for liquidation later. After the accident, the government first detained eight members, engineer card letters and two other engineers, Gena's father and four other owners of the building's garment factory.
Gena was then arrested while trying to escape to India.
When the engineer's card letter was arrested, the public was still very confused because the card letter had warned the building at that time that there was a risk of collapse.
But in fact, he has been a consultant in Gena, and the building was built with his help.
Figure 15 The person in charge involved was arrested (Gena left 2)
The evil in him will not be offset much because of his attempt to redeem it.
On the contrary, when he knew that the building was in danger, he still said that the building was safe and could resume work, and he should be punished with a higher level of crime.
The criminals have no room for maneuver.
The first half of this collapse case ended successfully. Next, it was the most difficult war without gunpowder.
That is, to get enough pensions for these victims.
Capitalists who shirked responsibility for each other
Bangladesh will set April 25 as National Day of Mourning , and held national mourning on April 25, 2013 to commemorate the victims of the tragedy of Savar.
In mosque , temples, pagodas and other places of worship, people pray for the creatures of the deceased.
Figure 16 Condolences
The government donated 55 million taka to the victims. According to the current exchange rate, is still counted, and it is only more than 4 million yuan.
The Director-General of the Disaster Management Department claimed that each family member of the deceased will receive Tk20,000, and each injured will receive Tk5,000.
During May Day Labor Day, thousands of protest workers marched in Dhaka city center, demanding safer working conditions for owners of Gena Square.
A week later, victims from Gena Square gathered to demand wages, and the government promised workers would receive compensation as soon as possible.
These sloppy words obviously cannot satisfy the already angry laborers, and the march has not stopped.
htmlOn June 5, Bangladesh police fired in the air, trying to disperse the workers.
Figure 17 Protesting people
August 30, 100 days after the collapse of Gena Square.
Injured workers and families of the deceased, as well as workers' rights activists, held a memorial ceremony for the tragedy.
A statue holding a hammer and a sickle stretching towards the sky became the only monument to the tragedy.
The government is so evasive because in those factories, most of them refuse to admit that they have any connection with the building.
was confirmed to purchase 29 brands of products from the Gena factory, and the government spoke out loudly to them, demanding that they be responsible for the accident.
This is because Bangladesh has closed eighteen clothing factories since the collapse of Gena Square.
There are many factories that have claimed to be the most standard-compliant factories in Bangladesh. After a thorough investigation of
, I found that the building regulations were not fully complied with.
Figure 18 Statue
These precarious buildings have laid hidden dangers. Even if Gena Square does not collapse today, one day, another factory will be destroyed.
Of course, in the face of such an outrageous proposal, only nine of the 29 brands attended the meeting held in November.
reached an agreement on providing compensation to victims. Many global companies such as
Walmart , Carrefour , Aushang and other major global companies refused to sign contracts.
As of March 2014, only 7 international brands have donated.
Not only the Bangladesh government, but also these companies, they are rightfully enjoying the cheap labor in Bangladesh but are unwilling to bear the price of this oppression.
In the factory in Gena Square, one of the persons in charge was interviewed after being arrested and imprisoned.
mentioned in the interview that his company reached a cooperative relationship with clothing manufacturers as early as 2007.
Figure 19 Gena was closely “protected” when she appeared in court
They paid fifteen to sixteen dollars for each dozen shorts and put pressure on the manufacturer.
collaborator says he can earn $15 million a year.
And the benefits their partners earn are more than several times that of this number. The high compensation claimed by victims of the
accident may be less than their profit for a year.
These glamorous big brands have revealed their ugly faces for this, allowing the public to peek at the sins behind them.
Several brands we are familiar with have issued statements.
Walmart said none of the company's clothing was allowed to be produced in the factory.
Benetton said in an email to AP that it was not Benetton's supplier involved in the incident.
Figure 20 Amputated survivor
And Mango said it was just discussing the production of clothing samples with one of the factories.
They talk nonsense seriously, get rid of their responsibilities without any guilt.
Later, perhaps it was because the public's grievances spread too widely, which led to a huge decline in the turnover of these brands.
They finally realized that they had to pay responsibilities to restore their image among the people.
In October 2013, 17 large North American retailers including Walmart and Gap announced a plan to improve the safety of factories in Bangladesh:
upgraded the security facilities of 1,600 Bangladesh clothing factories and implemented immediately.
As of mid-September 2013, compensation for those disaster families is still under discussion.
Figure 21 Walmart
Global Institute of Labor and Human Rights has established a worker relief fund.
By September 2013, the fund raised $26,000 for injured workers and surviving family members.
The 26,000 yuan is used to appease the people. The US government provides DNA kits for those who have lost their loved ones.
only those who can provide evidence will receive two hundred dollars in compensation. This is a drop in the bucket for families who have lost their young and strong labor force.
To this day, there are more than 20 families who cannot provide written documentary proof and cannot receive the two hundred dollars in compensation.
June 15, 2014, one year after the accident.
Bangladesh Administrative Council filed a case for illegal construction of Gena Square building incorrectly.
Figure 22 Survivors return to garment
One month later, the deputy director of the Administrative Coordination Committee submitted a letter of charge against eighteen people, including Gena.
Among them, Gena is about to be interrogated for crimes such as dereliction of duty, illegal construction and forcing employees to work in the building.
The criminal was sentenced and the victim received some compensation. This matter should come to an end.
But people often forget that there is another huge group in this matter that needs care.
That is the people rescued by the rescue team in the accident. What happened to them? Some might say that they are already much luckier than those who are buried in a collapse.
It’s not good to save your life. What can I do to take care of? Isn’t it good to cherish your life and live?
is, living is better than dying, but it depends on how you live.
Figure 23 The victims
Is he alive or "live"
In 2019, a scholar specially conducted a study to explore the current health and happiness of survivors of the collapse of Gena Plaza building in Bangladesh.
From the investigation, we can see that these survivors were forced to join work on the day of the collapse.
Their limbs suffered damage, and the participants described their pain:
"One of my legs broke due to the fall of the sewing machine...
The doctor inserted an artificial stick into my waist because my chest cavity was also broken." Fractures, amputations, severe headaches, kidney problems and dysfunctions abound. In addition to being healthy, most of them have serious psychological problems.
includes depression , suicide ideation, sleep disorder , anxiety and sudden anger, etc.
Figure 24 PTSD Trauma Sequelae
More than one survivor claims that they suffer from strong PTSD, traumatic sequelae, fearing that the same scene will appear again in life.
They dare not step into the building to live or work, and have nightmares all night long.
In the dream, they returned to the moment of the accident and watched their colleagues cry and die in the heat.
They were indeed rescued, but part of them remained in the ruins forever.
In the investigation, it can be seen that the government has not provided any subsequent effective treatment for physical and psychological issues. After
, some of them who were the first to improve returned to their old business.
But they were quickly fired because they were unable to meet the daily production goals set by management.
Figure 25 Two victims who died in embrace
This includes being unable to bear the sound of the sewing machine or being afraid of workmanship.
No manager will feel pity for them because they have suffered huge disasters.
They were quickly replaced by other workers and then cut off their source of income.
One of the survivors who participated in the survey said:
"Today, I think it would be better if I was found dead when the building collapsed.
Poor health and unemployment made me unable to survive, and life became meaningless to me."
If this continues, they are likely to be suicide.
What supports them to live is nothing more than the attention of others to the incident.
But the fact is that today, the collapse of Bangladesh has gradually become a disaster event term on the encyclopedia with the largest number of deaths in the world.
Figure 26 collapse site
Everything else is slowly forgotten by people.
On that ruin, people built a clothing factory again.
This incident is not the only human-caused disaster in Bangladesh. In November 2012, a fire broke out in the factory of Tazilin Fashion Co., Ltd. and 111 workers were killed.
In 2005, the sweater factory in Dhaka collapsed, killing 64 people and injuring 80 people.
This disaster is not a natural disaster but a man-made disaster, which can be avoided, but for the sake of greed, humans have made innocent people pay the price of their lives.
China has always put people first, but in Bangladesh and India, they lack everything, but they do not lack people.
Bangladesh covers an area of 147,000 square kilometers, but its population is about 163 billion.
Figure 27 Fire in the garment factory
The huge population occupies limited resources and will inevitably continue to snatch it to survive.
In order to consume these population resources, the government even acquiesced its workers to cause disabilities in factories producing clothing for Western countries.
These workers clearly know that construction violations are violated and their wages are thin.
They still hold on to them, and the disaster will not happen to them, and they will rush forward.
And factories are happy to see them constantly squeezing them, exchanging the least profit for the highest money.
If you want to change this situation, the move made by the Bangladesh government to allow workers to form trade unions is far from enough.
Only let workers know that they are also precious, their lives are no different from those of their bosses, and they no longer despise themselves.
Figure 28 Bangladesh people
That time is when they truly gain their self-worth.
The vested interests behind these factories will no longer put construction safety issues first.
The collapse of the Gena factory will only be the beginning, not the end.
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