11 years since Rana Plaza tragedy: 134 victims remain unidentified

Eleven years on, 134 people killed in the Rana Plaza tragedy remain unidentified, the Jatiyo Sramik Jote (National Workers' Alliance) said today.

"The total number of people killed in Rana Plaza was 1,136. Of them, 291 were buried in Jurain graveyard as unidentified. While 157 were identified through DNA testing in the last decade, 134 remain unidentified," the organisation's General Secretary Abdul Waheed said during a discussion at the National Press Club in Dhaka.

"Despite repeated requests to the relevant authorities, the matter has not been resolved. In addition, Dhaka South City Corporation was asked to build a memorial there in memory of the victims on behalf of the workers, but it has not been done," he also said.

Waheed further said that 42% of the injured in the incident are unemployed and 48.1% are physically disabled.

"Even after the labour law was amended, the suffering of the workers has not decreased. As a result, the workers are being deprived of social security," he added.

The event titled "Achievements and Challenges in Creating Safe Workplaces: Experiences of Post-Rana Plaza Initiatives" was organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Labor Studies.

Ratna Khatun, a Rana Plaza-injured worker who now lives in Savar, said, "I had an operation on my leg a few days ago. Currently, our family of four solely depends on my husband's income as I am unable to work. Such medical assistance has helped us a lot."

Another injured female worker, Parul, said, "A part of my body got crushed under a beam and I became disabled. I also have kidney damage. I cannot find work anywhere. Although we have received small financial and medical assistance from various NGOs, we have not been rehabilitated. As a result, we are now completely dependent."