As all hopes faded for finding any more Savar victims alive under the rubble of Rana Plaza 17 days after it collapsed, rescuers miraculously pulled out a young woman apparel worker named
Reshma alive and almost well on Friday.
Rescuers first heard a metallic noise (a banging on a metal pipe with something) and then a feeble voice from dying Reshma who survived on just water in the basement mosque of the collapsed Rana Plaza. Enough room, also miraculously, in the damaged mosque, allowed her to make movement and somehow cling to life.
As soon as they spotted somebody still alive under the debris of what was once an eight-storey Rana Plaza, the military-led rescue team members quickly established contact with Reshma. “We then gave her food, water and oxygen through a hole,” rescuers said.
An entire nation was glued to the television screen as a series of private TV channels started live broadcast of the rescue operation of Reshma starting around 3:30 in the afternoon from the site of Rana Plaza. Reshma saw the sunlight and breathed fresh air for the first time in 17 days at exactly 4:28 pm.
Hailed from Ghoraghat in the northern district of Dinajpur, Reshma became an instant household name across Bangladesh bringing smile on the face of everybody at a time when the death toll in the Savar tragedy already crossed 1,000 mark. The young apparel worker who miraculously survived the worst ever building collapse in the country joined 2,437 other survivors.
Reshma, 23, has two other sisters – Ashma and Fathema. Both work at garment factory as well. Her father Ansar Ali died about 17 years ago and mother Zobeda Begum is living in Dhaka. She has two brothers – Zahidul and Sadek Ali. Both brothers live in the capital too. Hearing the news of her sister’s rescue operation, Asma rushed to the Rana Plaza site in Savar.
“I couldn’t believe my ear when I first heard the news of my sister’s rescue operation on TV as we all virtually gave up our hopes on her,” Ashma told newsmen in Savar holding a picture of her sister Reshma and repeatedly kissing it. “Nothing could be a greater gift than getting our sister back to us alive and well,” she said and prayed to God putting together the palms of her both hands
skyward.
As the rescuers brought her out from the debris after a tough battle for about an hour, she was rushed to the nearby Savar Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in an ambulance that was already standing by especially for her. “She is dehydrated; her condition is stable,” attending physicians at the Savar CMH told newsmen. Reshma was also seen talking to media men from her hospital bed. Perhaps it was a miracle that there was a clanging sound of metal which had attracted the attention of the rescuers from the Army’s Engineers Corps from its Ninth Division, as they were preparing to give a final look under the ruins of the Rana Plaza in Savar on the 17th day of its collapse.
Young Maj. Moazzem Hossain peeped inside the cracks and cavity of the building’s basement from where the groaning sounds were coming. The rest became history when a feeble voice of a
female said from inside the debris: “I am Reshma. Please help me and pull me up. I am lying here in darkness.”
This is how Reshma was pulled out alive. She came out with a smile, feeling the sun and taking in the fresh air after 17 long days.
The rescuers had virtually given up hope for any survivor and they had been able to retrieve only 1,044 bodies, but never thought someone was still alive after rescuing Sadek Akhter, 27, three days after the collapse of the building.
Hope had also diminished after fire servicemen, soldiers and civil volunteers failed to rescue Shahina, another young garments worker. She died in a fire that also claimed the life of a young volunteer, Ejajuddin Kaikobad, when engineers tried to cut iron rods with electric cutters, causing sparks from a beam under which Shahina was trapped.
But Army engineers and soldiers took precaution this time. They used hacksaws and hand tools so as not to cause any sparks. Reshma was pulled out alive by Maj. Moazzem and a trooper, Delwar. Though emaciated, she was in a good condition. The rescuers gave her water, something she had asked for first. She was also given survival biscuits.
As she was pulled out, people cried “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) and the sound of prayer filled the air.
Reshma was rescued at 4:28 pm and taken to the Savar Combined Military Hospital in an army ambulance.
A worker of the New Wave Bottoms Garment, she asked for her sister, Asma, another garments factory worker. Both sisters hailed from Ghoraghat, Dinajpur, in north-western Bangladesh.
Asma was maintaining vigil for her sister at the crash site with her sister’s photograph.
Reshma told rescuers and doctors that she had managed to survive thus far with abandoned food, leftover snacks and water bottles for garments workers. But the food turned rotten and she was unable to eat with water running out. She was losing hope though she could hear sounds above as she sat squatting in darkness.
She was given oxygen, saline and medical care immediately, said Lt. Col. Imran of the Savar CMH, adding that she was safe and unhurt.
From her hospital bed, Reshma spoke to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over phone, general commanding officer (GOC) Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardi said.
“I am coming to see you,” the PM told her.
Earlier, the Third Engineering Battalion was conducting the operation. Before cutting the basement floor, army officer Moazzem saw that a pipe was shaking and asked if there was anybody trapped under the basement. “I was inspecting the site when I saw a pipe shaking. I went there and heard a woman groaning,” he said.
After this, Moazzem got down there and Delwar pulled her up.
At 4 pm, Major General. Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardy, GOC, 9 Division Savar Cantonment organised a prayer for the safe recovery of Reshma. “We cut some rods with manual cutters. We were carefully not to cause any fire this time,” he said.
“We are progressing carefully to find people alive. That’s why we are a bit slow in our work. Reshma’s rescue is a great encouragement,” he added.
He also said, “The floor did not cave in like other floors and created a cavity inside, enabling Reshma to move and breathe. She is unhurt.”
A total of 2,438 people were rescued from the rubble of the Rana Plaza that came down crashing on April 24.
On Friday, the rescue team recovered 19 more bodies from the rubble, raising the death toll to 1,044.
Seventeen bodies were pulled out of the ruins from 8 pm on Thursday to 12pm on Friday, said Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardi.
Of the retrieved bodies, 717 have been handed over to the families. The rest were kept at the morgues of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and Mitford Medical College Hospital.
A total of 131 bodies have been kept in the Adhar Chandra High schoolground.
Besides, 156 bodies were handed over to Anjuman-e-Mofidul Islam, a charitable organisation, for burial as these bodies were decomposed beyond recognition.
Rescuers tried to identify the victims by using their mobile phones or identity cards found in their pockets.
Some rescuers fell sick after inhaling the foul smell emnating from the decomposed bodies. Two sick rescue workers were admitted to the Enam Medical College Hospital.
Savar upazila nirbahi officer Quamrul Islam Mollah had, on Thursday, requested the relatives of those missing in the building collapse to go to the DMCH to give their DNA samples. Meanwhile, officials and workers of a garment factory owned by Sharmin Group donated a day’s salary, amounting to Tk. 31 lakh, to the disaster relief fund of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
-With The Independent input
