Bangladesh disaster site to become rehab centre

BANGLADESH: Bangladesh plans to take over the site of the collapsed nine-storey building which killed 1,127 people and convert it into a rehabilitation centre for the victims, a minister said Tuesday.

"Our Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina) wants this place to be taken over by the government and convert it to such a system that it can rehabilitate those who have died here or are affected," deputy minister for local government Jahangir Kabir Nanak told reporters.

He made the comments after the army concluded the search for the dead at the doomed building 20 days after what was known as Rana Plaza collapsed outside the country's capital Dhaka.

Violating almost every construction law, the structure imploded on April 24, trapping garment workers who were on shift in the building at the time.

Nearly 2,500 people were pulled out alive by hundreds of army, fire service and volunteer rescue workers.

Authorities have arrested the owner of the building, Sohel Rana, a low-level ruling party official, after a massive man-hunt. He has been charged with causing death due to negligence and violating building laws.

AFP