Reshma Begum, a survivor of the Savar building collapse, seemed relaxed, though signs of panic could be seen in her eyes every now and then.
“I never imagined that I would be able to come out of the rubble. I kept praying to Allah,” she told reporters at the Savar Combined Military Hospital (CMH) on Tuesday, four days after she was rescued from the collpased Rana Plaza.
She was trapped under the rubble for 17 days.
Reshma, hailing from a hamlet in Ghoraghat upazila of Dinajpur district, said: “I’ll never work in a garment factory again. I received head injuries when the building collapsed. I don’t remember anything. I used to change my location by crawling. All my clothes were torn.”
Reshma said that after gaining consciousness, she heard many people crying for a drop of water. “But I was helpless. I saw many of them die. On the day of my rescue, I saw a faint light coming from a crevice in the rubble. I shouted for help. I was desperate to live. Some rescuers gave me a torch. I managed to get a dress and wore it.
There were shops of women’s apparel around me. I’ve survived because of Allah’s will. I lived on water for 17 days. I did not get any food, except some leftover biscuits,” she added.
Reshma said Allah had given her the courage to live. She also said that she was working on the third floor during the building collapse.
“I managed to get into the basement by the stairs and stayed there.
A cavity there helped me to breathe,” she added.
Reshma came to Dhaka on June 2010 in search of work. She found a job at the New Wave Bottoms Limited, with a salary of Tk. 4,700. She was brought before reporters at about 5:15 pm. She was overwhelmed with emotion seeing so many people around her. She looked pale and talked in a low voice.
On her treatment, Brig. Gen. Ashfaque said: “We’re providing medical treatment to Reshma. She is fine now. However, she is suffering from trauma and going through emotional upheavals.”
A seven-member medical board, headed by Col. Aziz, has been formed for the treatment of Reshma.
“The board is examining her. She is quite well now. Her vital organs are functioning normally. We’ve kept her in the intensive care unit (ICU). We’re giving antibiotics to her to avert infection. Hopefully, she will fully recover soon,” he added.
-With The Independent input
