Nine days into the Rana Plaza tragedy, how many people still remain missing is a question officials cannot answer. All they can say is they do not have the exact number.
Rescuers say they are unaware of the number of people working at the nine-storey building when it collapsed on April 24, as the garment owners have not yet given them the actual figures.
Briefing journalists, ISPR Director Shahinul Islam yesterday said they were yet to ascertain the number of those missing because they were still waiting for a list of workers present on the day from the BGMEA.
Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, told The Daily Star, “The rescue operation would have been easier had we had a list of the people working on different floors.”
From 6:00am till midnight yesterday, rescuers had pulled out 25 bodies from the debris, according to Inter Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) sources.
With this, the death toll rose to 446 while the number of people rescued alive remained unchanged at 2,437, ISPR added.
On Wednesday, Maj Gen Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy, GOC of Bangladesh Army’s Ninth Infantry Division, claimed only 149 people were missing.