Shilpi, a young apparel worker who was trapped for 36 hours under a huge pile of concrete chunks of what was once Rana Plaza in Savar never thought she would ever survive. “Since the collapse of the building on Wednesday morning, I suddenly found myself stuck among the pieces of heavy concrete all around. I heard wailing of my co-workers and kept continuously praying to God for His help. Shilpi did return to life from the brink of death from debris where the infamous Rana Plaza once stood. Shilpi’s tale of survival was not an exception. Many survivors of Wednesday’s fatal building collapse narrated similar stories of their ordeal. Her right hand amputated down the elbow, Shilpi was sitting on a bed of the specialized female ward of Savar Cantonment Hospital with tears rolling down her cheeks. “They saved my life, but cut my hand.” She broke down completely.
“I was working at the output desk on our floor when the building came crushing down with a terrifying noise. I tried to save my life keeping my head under the table. At that moment, I was working along with three other garment workers. Two of us were rescued on Thursday night. One died and another is still trapped there,” Shilpi told The Independent.
When I heard a sound for the first time last night after almost one and a half day, I found a ray of hope and expressed my gratitude to God for His help, the young apparel worker who was visibly weak with no food and water for many hours. Traumatized, she narrated the most frightening experience
of her life.
Shakila, another young garment worker who was trapped on the fourth floor of Rana Plaza was rescued around 1 pm Friday. She too was continuously weeping at the Savar Cantonment Hospital. Without any food and water for three days, she was too weak to even speak with an Independent correspondent.
“I was in total darkness since the collapse of the plaza. Until I was pulled out, I had no knowledge of what happened outside. Whenever I regained my consciousness, I was crying and shouting for help, but no one was there to respond.” Shakila said of her terrifying experience.
She said she almost gave up hope for her life. Then I heard some sounds, she recalled while talking to an attending nurse on the ambulance on her way to the Hospital.
Jhorna and Lovely, who were on the fourth floor when the building came down on Wednesday also told almost identical tales of their survival to the Independent correspondent. Sathi, Rebeka, Shamoly, Razu, Monir and many other survivors wanted their relatives to know that they have survived the worst ordeal of their lives.
Courtesy of The Independent
