Rana Plaza: The Disaster that Exposed an Industry

When the World Collapsed

It is the morning of April 24th, 2013, some minutes after 8am.

Husnara is already at work in her garment factory, housed within a tall building near Dhaka, Bangladesh. She and her co-workers feel nervous and unsettled, following the discovery of large cracks on the structure’s pillars.

But loud music pumped through the factory speakers prevents her from engaging in conversations with her colleagues, let alone discuss or question orders from the factory managers. Orders must be fulfilled, no matter what!

Then, at 8:57am the factory goes dark. And Husnara’s world crumbles. The entire nine-storey building known as Rana Plaza collapses onto itself.

Husnara has just experienced the worst and deadliest garment factory disaster on record, the most lethal accidental structural failure in modern human history.

Husnara will survive. But 1,134 people lost their lives following the collapse of the Rana Plaza, the disaster that exposed the practices of the fast fashion industry.

The Rana Plaza building was located in Savar, a sub district located 25 km northwest of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The nine-storey structure housed five garment factories, which produced clothes for their international clients, 31 European and American clothes companies.

The Ready Made Garment sector, or RMG, is the highest contributor to the Bangladeshi GDP, accounting for more than 80% of the country’s total export earnings. As such, the RMG sector is a top source of labour, employing some 4 million workers, of which more than three quarters are young women.

On April 23rd, just like any other working day, hundreds of RMG workers filed inside the Rana Plaza, alongside the employees of a bank and several shops located within the building. The normal daily grind, however, was interrupted by the discovery of large cracks on the third floor pillars. The cracks were inspected by an engineer, who reportedly left the building in haste, advising everybody else to do the same.

The managers of the bank and the shops listened to his advice. Their premises were vacated, and employees were dispensed from returning to work on the following day.

But the management of the clothing factories worked under pressure from their clients to meet production quotas and tight deadlines — which took priority over workplace safety, it seems!

It also appears that these managers had not learned from previous experiences: in 2005, 64 workers had died in a factory building collapse in the same area. Overcrowding, poor safety protocols and a pressure to continue working no matter what, had caused another garment industry accident in 2012: a factory fire in the town of Ashulia, in which 112 workers had died.

Most of the RMG workers within Rana Plaza were asked to stay at work, lest they forfeit their daily attendance bonus, or even the entire monthly salary.

As attested in a July 2019 paper by Dr Humayun Kabir, University of New England, Armidale, Australia, at least one of the five clothing factories did close on the 23rd … but management did not reveal the severity of the structural problems.

A sewing operator, identified only as ‘L’, reported to Dr Kabir that

“We were given release from work at 11 a.m. during the day before the collapse. Our general manager … announced that there was a simple electrical problem and that the electrician was working to fix it. He advised us to come back to work on the following day”

On the morning of April 24th, several hundred garment workers showed up outside the gates of Rana Plaza, as requested by their managers. Arguments broke out in the adjacent courtyard, as many employees did not feel safe enough to start working. The labourers were confronted by their managers, as well as the owner of the building, businessman and former government official Mohammad Sohel Rana. Whatever safety concern they had was superseded by the strong arguments of their employees: either walk in and start working, or lose your month’s salary.

Most workers could not afford losing their wages, and reluctantly took up their posts. According to survivor reports, the main entrance door and an internal gate had been shut after the employees had walked in. Moreover, at least one emergency exit was blocked by clothing supplies. A sewing operator reported that

“The management played music system loudly so that we become unable talking to each other about the crack of the building”

Some time between 8:50 and 8:56am, an electric generator on one of the upper floors was switched on, its vibrations shaking the damaged pillars of the building.

Husnara Akhtar, a 20-year-old woman at the time, remembered how

“The lights began to flicker and the floor beneath my feet shook. Within seconds, we were plunged into darkness”

At 8:57am the pillars suddenly collapsed, and the roofs from the top to the bottom floors fell one upon another. In just 90 seconds, the nine stories of the Rana Plaza building had been reduced to three stories of mangled rubble.

When Husnara regained consciousness, she was buried under a pile of debris, surrounded by dead bodies.

“I lay there for five whole hours unable to move. It felt like a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. There was so much dust and so many dead bodies.”

Husnara’s husband and co-worker Sufyan was found dead only one week later, crushed by a concrete pillar.

Other survivors, such as Rupaly, or Asma, had a similar experience: the floor beneath their feet suddenly giving way, the walls caving in, a desperate attempt to flee — and then, darkness. Rupaly was found by rescue teams 15 hours after the collapse. Asma was trapped for three days under the rubble, forced to drink her own urine to prevent dehydration.

Citizens to the Rescue

Bangladesh was no stranger to large-scale natural disasters, but the country had never experienced a structural collapse of this entity in a densely populated urban centre. Nonetheless, the response by emergency services, security forces and volunteers was rapid and exemplary.

In a matter of minutes, Fire Service and Civil Defense personnel initiated the rescue operations, searching for survivors with the help of local residents and other volunteers. The Police, Armed Forces, Red Crescent and even Scout troops soon followed, while doctors, nurses and students from nearby hospitals and universities set up emergency medical camps.

The first survivor was treated barely 30 minutes after the collapse, and more followed, as injured workers were freed from under the rubble. On several occasions, survivors were trapped under piles of debris which were too heavy or unstable for them to be removed safely.

Extreme measures had to be taken, as reported by a medical student who volunteered with the Bangladesh Scouts:

“I found a 22 years old person [who] was trapped behind a concrete beam, his leg was locked in between the beam, there was no way to remove the large beam, the person wanted to be rescued anyway. I used sharp blade to cut his left knee joint and rescued [him] from the hole”

This was just one example of the emergency amputations that had to be performed amidst the rubble of Rana Plaza. Severely injured survivors were then stabilised at the emergency medical camps, and then transported to the local hospitals in Savar and Dhaka. If ambulances were not available, volunteers stepped in, sometimes carrying patients on the back of their motorbikes.

Dr Animesh Biswas, at Dhaka’s Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, collected some truly inspiring volunteer stories in his 2015 paper for the Scientific World Journal.

Such as the case of a local shopkeeper, who was an expert at climbing trees. He used his skills to climb up and down the piles of rubble, listening for shouts of help and locating several survivors.

And it wasn’t just locals who selflessly rushed to the rescue. Dr Biswas reported the story of a farmer, who lived 180 km away from Rana Plaza. Upon hearing news of the collapse, the farmer wanted to help by feeding the wounded and the rescue workers, so

“He collected bananas from his own banana tree and bought packets of bread and caught a bus to Savar, which took about seven hours.”

After 20 days of the operation, the local paper Daily Sun reported that rescue workers had saved 2,438 survivors from the rubble of Rana Plaza, of which 1,744 were injured.

Unfortunately, relief operations had also brought to light a staggering number of dead bodies: 1,115. In the ensuing weeks, some of the wounded succumbed to their injuries, bringing the total death toll to 1,134. And this is still a conservative estimate, as 98 workers were reported as missing.

The Causes of a Tragedy

What were the causes of the disaster, and more importantly: was it preventable? It appears that the immediate causes for the structural collapse were poor building practices, overlooked by planning authorities as a result of corruption. According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Project, the Rana Plaza was built on unsuitable, swampy land. Moreover, as stated by Transparency International:

“Corners were cut in procuring building materials, and officials took bribes to look the other way”

A 2014 report by the International Federation for Human Rights further states that

“The Rana Plaza structure did not meet safety codes and was built and expanded without a permit.”

The Federation report clarifies that the owner of the building, Mohammed Sohel Rana, should have sought a permit from the RAJUK, a public agency responsible for coordinating urban development. Such permit was not requested, let alone granted, to erect the initial structure, which counted five storeys. The Plaza was later expanded with the addition of four storeys, which were built without supporting walls and, again, without a permit! Therefore, the report identifies RAJUK as

“one of the government authorities responsible for this catastrophe.”

According to a 2016 issue of the Journal of Financial Crime, Mr Rana was adding yet more levels to the building at the time of the disaster, which further contributed to the weakening of the overall structure. The structure was put under further stress by the installation of heavy equipment within the garment factories, themselves overcrowded with hundreds of workers. The Journal of Financial Crime also highlights how corruption and the lack of government checks contributed to the tragedy that followed:

“Since the collapse and associated investigations as to the cause of the collapse, it has been reported that the government was found to have failed in applying building codes and regular inspections to the site. In addition, underlying corruption was found to have influenced government approvals due to the strong affiliations between the Ready Made Garment owners and political powers in Bangladesh”

Based on these elements, we can say that, yes, the structural collapse was indeed preventable. In fact, one may argue that, by applying the standard regulations, the Rana Plaza building should not have even existed in the first place! The cracks appearing on April 23rd were already a clear sign of impending doom. At that stage, probably there was nothing that could be done to prevent the building from caving in.

But there was something that could be done to prevent the tragic death toll. The bank and retail shops present in the Rana Plaza had been evacuated as early as the 23rd. If the management of the garment factories had taken a similar decision, there would not have been any loss of life. However, as stated earlier, increasing demands down the supply chain pressured managers into fulfilling their orders, and in turn they coerced their employees to continue working as usual.

The Journal of Financial Crime points out that even if the collapse had been partial, or if there had been another incident such as a fire, the Rana Plaza workers had reduced chances of walking out unscathed. This is due to the poor working conditions of the RMG sector in Bangladesh, which, as of 2013, was plagued by

“insufficient installation of safety measures, violations of safety and security measures, lack of emergency exits and adequate staircases, inadequate fire control management, lack of comprehensive emergency industrial accident management systems, improper safety inspections, avoidance of the Factory Building Act, and other compliance-related issues, including a failure to enforce national building codes”

Who Was Responsible?

The magnitude of the tragedy prompted Dhaka authorities to act decisively and swiftly to identify those responsible for the disaster.

The Savar Municipal Authority, the Savar Police, The Criminal Investigation Department and the Anti-Corruption Commission all contributed to the investigation, which identified 41 suspects to be tried, 38 of them on murder charges.

Chief among those suspects was the owner of the Rana Plaza, Mohammad Sohel Rana. The businessman tried escaping capture, eluding the police for four days before being arrested on the border with India. Other suspects included the owners of the five garment factories within the building, the Mayor of the Savar Municipality, as well as the responsible engineers at the planning commission.

The initial decisive police action, however, was followed by a drawn-out judiciary process. As of December 2015, local press reported that a court in Dhaka was to start the trial for the 41 identified suspects. Of those, only Mr Rana was in custody, while 16 had been released on bail and 24 had fled the country. Subsequent reports in April 2017 noted how Sohel Rana was yet to be tried for the collapse, although he had been sentenced for unrelated corruption charges.

Moreover, two other defendants, including the mayor of Savar, had filed petitions with the High Court of Bangladesh, prompting for some stay orders to be issued. Apparently, it was these stay orders which proved challenging to clear. Only on January 31, 2022, the Dhaka court began recording witness testimonies … which in itself appears to be a long and laborious process, as reported by journalist Masudur Rahman:

“The witnesses are spread across different districts of the country. Some of them are injured; some are mutilated, while some are mentally ill. Many had moved to their villages after the incident.”

Which may explain why only 45 out of the 594 identified witnesses have been heard thus far!

At the time of preparing this article, January 2024, the trial has not started yet, but progress may be on its way. According to newspaper Dhaka Tribune

“The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has ordered the lower court to finish the trial proceedings of the Rana Plaza building collapse murder case within six months.”

The tragedy of the Rana Plaza workers exposed the unfair working practices of the RMG industry, highlighting the need for urgent change. The major clients of the garment factories in Bangladesh stepped up to organise two collective efforts, addressing issues of workplace safety in the sector.

The first of such efforts was the Accord for Fire and Building Safety, signed on May 13, 2013 by 200 European fashion brands and retailers, including the likes of H&M, Zara, Primark and Benetton. The Accord was joined by 10 national and international trade unions, four NGOs acting as witnesses, as well as the International Labour Organisation, or ILO. This gives the Accord the status of a legally binding mechanism to settle trade disputes.

A group of 20 mostly US brands, including Walmart, Target and GAP, created a separate initiative, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, dedicated to organising factory inspections and providing loans for their renovation. Unlike the Accord, the Alliance does not involve trade unions and is not under the ILO’s supervision, which makes it non-legally binding.

In the ten years since the collapse, the Accord and the Alliance have conducted between 2,200 and 2,500 factory inspections, according to sources. These inspections identified structural and safety improvements which factory management had to undertake, if they wanted to maintain their international contracts. As a result, hundreds of facilities have reinforced their structures and foundations, installed more, better fire safety equipment and cleared their emergency exits.

A Fair Arrangement?

The Accord and Alliance would try to prevent future catastrophes, but the ILO, the Bangladesh government and the Ready Made Garment sector, RMG, recognised also the need of supporting the survivors of Rana Plaza, and the families of the deceased.

In September 2013, the ILO convened a meeting in Geneva with trade unions, international fashion brands, NGOs and government officials to calculate a fair compensation for those affected by the collapse. The intention was to support those who had suffered long-term injuries, and the dependents of dead family members. In December, the meeting participants signed the Rana Plaza Arrangement. According the its official website, the Arrangement was conceived to establish the

“principles upon which resulting payments would be based”

The ILO and the Arrangement also set up the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund to collect donations towards the required budget, which was estimated at $34 million, based on claims submitted by eligible beneficiaries. Funds were largely provided by international clothing brands, with minor contributions by the Bangladeshi Prime Minister’s Fund and other small donors.

According to the process set up by the Arrangement, the $34 million fund would be distributed to 3,600 eligible victims and their families – and the distribution was completed by October 2015. Now, based on these figures we can estimate that each beneficiary was entitled to an average payment of $9,400.

Now, back in 2016 the Global Living Wage Coalition estimated that the living wage in Dhaka should be no lower than $2,582 per year for an average family consisting of four members. Using this as a benchmark, we can calculate that the compensation awarded by the Arrangement was equivalent to 3.6 times the annual living wage.

An early assessment of the Rana Plaza Arrangement was conducted by the independent Bangladeshi think-tank Center for Policy Dialogue in April 2014. Up to that stage, compensation had been distributed to 909 families, who had received an average amount of $3,790, equivalent to barely 1.5 times the annual living wage.

The Center for Policy Dialogue deemed the compensation to be

“very insufficient”

This is especially true for those survivors who could not resume normal work due to physical injuries and debilitating mental health conditions. Their plight was assessed in the study by the already quoted Dr Humayun Kabir, published by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in July 2019.

Dr Kabir interviewed in depth 17 Rana Plaza survivors and all of them, unsurprisingly, reported significant physical trauma, including the consequences of fractures and amputation, severe headache, renal ailments and miscarriage.

A sewing operator, identified as ‘E’ told Dr Kabir:

“I was pregnant and my child had died in my womb due to the fall of a beam on my abdomen. According to the doctor, I will not be able to conceive a baby anymore. I cry often thinking about my unborn baby.”

A colleague of ‘E’, identified as ‘L’, told interviewers how they were admitted to a medical college following the event, where doctors had to amputate the right leg. Whereas ‘P’, a sales representative, lost their right hand at Rana Plaza

“Now, I depend on my left hand to do anything…I cannot explain how I feel about losing my hand.”

Participant ‘P’ also described the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder:

“I dream bad dreams very often and become scared still today if I remember the day of the collapse. I cannot think of working or living in the high rise building as I am frightened of the repetition of the same incident again in my life.”

‘P’ was not the only study participant to have suffered from a series of psychological health issues: trauma, depression, anger, anxiety, sleep disorders and suicidal ideation. Quality inspector ‘A’, was the only survivor within his team:

“It was only me, who survived from the collapse among 13 workers working in a single room. I cannot walk without a crutch now. My wife left me after the collapse which made me upset and I attempted to [commit] suicide at that time.”

All 17 interviewees reported the same three, distressing, issues:

First, they all experience insurmountable barriers for re-employment in the RMG sector. According to Dr Kabir:

“Factory owners treat them as less productive due to the injuries they sustained in the collapse.”

Second, they all had limited access to affordable healthcare. In fact, only one participant reported benefiting from free follow-up treatment for her injuries!

And third, all were unsatisfied with the compensation awarded by the Rana Plaza Arrangement and Trust Fund. As reported by study participant ‘B’:

“I received [$625] from the … Trust Fund, which was mostly spent on buying medicines and food on those days. Later, I received [$560] through three transactions … I did not hear anything yet about more compensation or whether the government will take any proper step to rehabilitate us… Now my economic condition is the worst. Sometimes, we have to struggle for food to eat three times a day”

So, a total of $1,175, equivalent to 45% of the 2016 annual living wage. And things were even worse for survivor ‘D’:

“I did not receive any kind of financial help from the government. Nobody from the government yet contacted me. Being a citizen of Bangladesh, I want the government to take my responsibility.”

Rana Plaza: 10 Years Later

The ten-year anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse prompted several organisations to assess how the tragedy, and its aftermath, had impacted the working conditions for the RMG sector in Bangladesh.

In June 2023, the World Bank published a study in the Journal of Development Economics, entitled

“The effects of international scrutiny on manufacturing workers: Evidence from the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh”

According to the paper’s authors, the scrutiny put in place after the calamity had a beneficial effect for Bangladeshi workers:

“In contrast with what the theory of compensating differentials would suggest, we do not find that workers’ wages were negatively impacted: instead, the post-Rana Plaza responses increased wages by about 10% … The results are larger in magnitude for female employees, whose wages increased by 19%”

The paper also examined other working conditions, such as benefits, hours and security:

“We find a large positive effects on working conditions: the working conditions index constructed from the data increased by 0.80 standard deviations after Rana Plaza”

Now, while this picture is encouraging, we should specify that the 2023 paper was based on data collected from the Bangladesh Labor Force Survey between 2003 and 2016.

Furthermore, the World Bank paper did not include employment figures, nor any other specific data, related to the actual survivors of the catastrophe.

For that, we have to refer to the April 2023 report published by ActionAid Bangladesh. This paper revealed how 54.5% of the survivors were still unemployed, and 89% of them had been out of work for five to eight years. As previously highlighted by Dr Kabir’s interviews, this lack of employment is due to health conditions and physical challenges.

The report also evaluated the workplace safety of 200 garment workers. More than 50% felt that safety measures taken by their management were inadequate, despite the efforts of the Accord and the Alliance. Almost 20% reported the lack of firefighting equipment, and 23% reported the lack of fire exits (!)

Now, speaking of the Accord and the Alliance … in April 2023 the Institute for Human Rights and Business, IHRB, published a briefing entitled

“Rana Plaza ten years on: lessons for human rights and business”

According to the document 73% of the 7,000 RMG factories in Bangladesh had not actually participated in the Accord and Alliance initiatives. The IHRB estimated that 3 million workers were thus left

“Without the protection provided by international standards.”

For the sake of balance, we should also mention industry-provided figures. According to the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturer and Exporters Association more than 80% of RMG factories are compliant with safety and security standards.

In general, the IHRB agrees that, compared to the pre-Rana Plaza era, at least partial progress has been made in improving safety standards. However:

“More holistic protections for workers are weak. This is because the garment industry still largely relies on fast-fashion and ‘just-in-time’ operating models, which exerts tremendous downward pressure on wages and costs and forces suppliers to cut corners.”

The IHRB also highlights the plight of Bangladeshi women, which constitute about 80% of the RMG workforce.

“Due to the power dynamics between the various actors in the industry and the difficult nature of the work itself, female garment workers continue to face sexual harm and suffering”

This issue has been highlighted also by campaigner Nazma Akter, with labour rights NGO Awaj Foundation. While factory safety may have improved, female employees still endure low wages, long working hours, a lack of social security, verbal and physical harassment, and the constant spectre of retaliation for reporting abuses. Moreover, Akter concludes that their right to organise and conduct collective negotiations with employers is under threat, following a government crackdown on unions.

The NYU Center for Business and Human Rights has identified a factor which may have worsened yet again working conditions for RMG in Bangladesh:

“Exploitative practices that buyers applied during the [Covid] pandemic, which have become the new normal with respect to purchasing practices.”

In other words, international fashion brands have applied tactics such as pressuring suppliers to reduce prices, withholding payments, or cancelling orders — which leaves local factories with stashes of unused materials. All in all, such practices lead to reduced profit margins for the RMG sector, in turn leading management to cut costs by worsening their employees’ working and safety conditions.

So, all in all, what has changed in the ten years since the worst industrial accident in the RMG sector?

Based on the reviewed sources, it appears that the disaster was followed by an initial, decisive and concerted action: to apprehend those allegedly responsible for more than 1,000 deaths; to compensate the survivors; and to improve the safety and well-being of the workforce.

However, it also appears that justice is yet to be initiated, let alone served; that fair compensation has not reached all those eligible in an equal manner; and that only a fraction of the millions of RMG employees have seen their conditions tangibly improved.

It shouldn’t take another disaster to prompt all parties involved to address the evident flaws of the RMG supply chain. If anything, all parties involved should proactively seek to prevent such occurrences from happening again.

To quote from Prof Michael H. Posner, Director of the NYU Center for Business and Human Rights:

“In Bangladesh and elsewhere, global fashion brands need to accept their share of the responsibility for ensuring the well-being of factory workers whose labour is a crucial component of the continued growth and vitality of this industry.”

Key Takeaways

• The Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 was the deadliest garment factory disaster, killing 1,134 people and injuring many more.
• The disaster exposed poor building practices, corruption, and unsafe working conditions in Bangladesh’s garment industry.
• International scrutiny after the collapse led to improvements in wages and working conditions for garment workers.
• Many survivors of the Rana Plaza collapse face long-term physical and mental health issues, and struggle with unemployment.
• Despite initial efforts, justice for the victims is delayed, and many garment factories still lack adequate safety measures.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the Rana Plaza disaster?

The Rana Plaza disaster was the collapse of a nine-story building in Savar, Bangladesh, on April 24, 2013. The building housed five garment factories and resulted in the deaths of 1,134 people, making it the deadliest garment factory disaster on record.

How many people were employed in the Ready Made Garment (RMG) sector in Bangladesh at the time of the Rana Plaza disaster?

The RMG sector employed approximately 4 million workers, with more than three-quarters being young women.

What were the immediate causes of the Rana Plaza building collapse?

The immediate causes of the Rana Plaza building collapse were poor building practices, corruption, and the addition of unauthorized floors without proper structural support.

What actions were taken by the international community in response to the Rana Plaza disaster?

The international community organized two collective efforts: the Accord for Fire and Building Safety, signed by European fashion brands, and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, created by mostly US brands. These initiatives aimed to improve workplace safety in the RMG sector.

How many people were rescued from the Rana Plaza collapse?

Rescue workers saved 2,438 survivors from the rubble of Rana Plaza, of which 1,744 were injured.

What was the Rana Plaza Arrangement and how much compensation was distributed?

The Rana Plaza Arrangement was established to provide compensation to the survivors and families of the deceased. A total of $34 million was distributed to 3,600 eligible victims and their families, averaging about $9,400 per beneficiary.

What were some of the long-term health issues faced by the survivors of the Rana Plaza collapse?

Survivors reported significant physical trauma, including fractures, amputations, severe headaches, renal ailments, and miscarriages. Many also suffered from psychological health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.

What percentage of RMG factories in Bangladesh participated in the Accord and Alliance initiatives?

According to the Institute for Human Rights and Business, only 27% of the 7,000 RMG factories in Bangladesh participated in the Accord and Alliance initiatives, leaving about 3 million workers without the protection provided by international standards.

What were some of the challenges faced by the survivors of the Rana Plaza collapse in finding re-employment?

Survivors faced insurmountable barriers for re-employment in the RMG sector due to their injuries, limited access to affordable healthcare, and dissatisfaction with the compensation awarded by the Rana Plaza Arrangement and Trust Fund.

What was the impact of the Rana Plaza disaster on workers’ wages and working conditions?

According to a World Bank study, the scrutiny following the disaster led to a 10% increase in wages and improved working conditions. However, the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturer and Exporters Association reported that more than 80% of RMG factories are compliant with safety and security standards.

Sources

• Original Into the Shadows video: Rana Plaza: The Disaster that Exposed an Industry
• https://ranaplaza-arrangement.org/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6651472/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4411435/
• https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/apr/28/a-nightmare-i-couldnt-wake-up-from-half-of-rana-plaza-survivors-unable-to-work-10-years-after-disaster
• https://www.fashionrevolution.org/rana-plaza-the-survivors-stories/
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• https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelposner/2023/04/19/a-decade-after-the-rana-plaza-disaster-global-clothing-companies-owe-more-to-bangladeshi-garment-workers/
• https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/documents/droi/dv/46_fidhbdranaplaza_/46_fidhbdranaplaza_en.pdf
• https://growensemble.com/rana-plaza/
• https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/rana-plaza-tragedy-fast-fashion-deadly-corruption-problems
• https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/2538-bangladesh-rana-plaza-collapse-result-of-corruption
• https://www.ihrb.org/other/supply-chains/briefing-rana-plaza-lessons-for-human-rights-business
• https://www.ihrb.org/uploads/briefings/rana-plaza-lessons-for-human-rights-and-business.pdf
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304387823000627
• https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/bangladesh-factory-collapse-41-charged-over-deadly-rana-plaza-tragedy-a6781876.html
• https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/court/336794/rana-plaza-murder-case-top-court-orders-to
• https://cleanclothes.org/resources/background/background-wage-struggle-bangladesh-december-2016
• Hero image source by Gangulybiswarup / openverse, by.

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