Over 100 killed as building collapses in Dhaka; rescuers pull 150 survivors from rubble

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April 24, 2013

Dhaka_building_collapse

Dhaka, Apr 24: More than 100 people were killed and over 600 injured Wednesday when an eight-storeyed building crumbled on the outskirts of capital Dhaka. Rescued workers complained they were forced to get back to work though the building was evacuated just a day earlier after cracks appeared.

Those trapped under the rubble screamed for help as rescuers scrambled to get them out.

The building, "Rana Plaza", collapsed around 8:45 a.m. It housed a market, several garment factories and a bank branch.

The building was found to have developed cracks Tuesday, and a day later, it went down in a huge heap of rubble, blocks of cement and bricks. At least 107 people were killed and over 600 injured in the building collapse, reported the Daily Star.

Nearly 150 people were pulled out of the rubble alive.

Sohel Rana, a local who rescued several people by breaking open a window, said that cries for help were heard from under the rubble of the building. The crash took place eight years after the collapse of Spectrum Garments in Baipail in Savar, which left 64 workers dead.

There are at least 107 bodies at Enam Medical College and Hospital in Savar where the victims were taken, chief medical officer of the hospital was quoted as saying.

Many workers, who were rescued, told the media that the owners of their garment factories forced them to return to work Wednesday morning. The workers were hesitating to rejoin work in the morning after they were evacuated on Tuesday after several cracks were detected in the building.

Fire fighters and army personnel joined police and volunteers to rescue those trapped under the debris. Families and relatives of the missing persons gathered in large numbers in front of the building. Fearing the worst, most of them were wailing.

Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir said that the "building might have collapsed due to faulty construction".

He added the government would bring the culprits to justice after probing the accident.

President-elect Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader Khaleda Zia in separate messages condoled the deaths.

Following the building collapse, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led 18-party alliance at first relaxed their hartal (strike) in Savar and eventually called off their 36-hour countrywide shutdown.

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News Network
July 1,2020

Tehran, Jul 1 As many as 19 people have been killed in an explosion and fire at a medical facility in Tehran.

A total of 19 people, including 15 men and 4 women, were killed in the explosion, the emergency services confirmed, RT reported citing KhabarOnline website.

According to a regional official, a gas leak caused the incident. Sputnik quoted a deputy head of Tehran police as saying to YJC news outlet that oxygen tanks exploded in the semi-basement of the clinic.

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News Network
March 25,2020

Hubei, Mar 25: As a bus departed from its terminus at Hankou Railway Station at 5:25 am Wednesday morning, Wuhan started to resume bus service after nine weeks of lockdown.

Apart from a driver, a safety supervisor was also on each bus, whose duty was to make sure all passengers are healthy.
"For those who do not use smartphones, they should bring with them a health certificate issued by the health authorities," said Zhou Jingjing, a safety supervisor aboard bus No. 511 departing from the Wuchang Railway Station complex.
The once hardest-hit city in central China's Hubei Province during the COVID-19 outbreak took unprecedented traffic restrictions on Jan 23. All of its public transport and all outbound flights and trains had been suspended in an attempt to contain the virus within the region.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Beijing, Mar 12: The number of fresh infections at the epicentre of China's coronavirus epidemic dropped to a new low on Thursday but the country imported more cases from abroad.

Another 11 people died, the lowest daily increase since late January, bringing the toll in China to 3,169 deaths, according to the National Health Commission.

There were only eight new cases in Wuhan, the city where the virus first emerged in December before growing into a national crisis and a pandemic.

It is the first time that new cases in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, have fallen to single-digits since figures started to be reported in January.

With cases falling dramatically in recent weeks, authorities this week began to loosen some restrictions on Hubei's 56 million people, who have been under quarantine since late January.

Healthy people living in low-risk areas of the province can now travel within Hubei. While Wuhan is not included, some of the city's companies were told they could resume work.

Only one other non-imported case was recorded elsewhere in the country.

But as global hotspots emerge elsewhere, China fears that cases arriving from abroad could undermine its progress.

On Thursday there were six more imported cases reported, bringing the total of infections from overseas to 85, health officials said.

Beijing has ordered a 14-day quarantine for everyone arriving in the city from any country.

Travellers flying into Beijing Capital International Airport from high-risk countries are now handled separately from other passengers.

A total of 80,793 people have now been infected in China.

President Xi Jinping said this week during his first visit to Wuhan since the crisis erupted that the spread of the disease has been "basically curbed" in China.

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