AFP/Dhaka

 

The anguished cries of amputees echoed yesterday across the Enam Medical College Hospital in a piercing reminder of the price paid by survivors of Bangladesh’s deadliest industrial disaster.

A steady procession of ambulances has been arriving at the hospital on the outskirts of Dhaka since Wednesday’s catastrophe, heralded by
deafening sirens.

And with each arrival, a crowd of young medical students in their white aprons were on hand to stretcher the injured to emergency wards, flanked by nurses with blood bags.

Garment worker Laboni Akter was brought to the hospital in critical condition after rescuers cut off her left hand to free her from the rubble of the eight-storey building in Savar, around 1km (half a mile) from the hospital.

Writhing in pain, she lost consciousness briefly at the emergency ward from where she was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit where she spoke after her condition improved.

“My hand fell under a pillar after the building collapsed, as if we were in an earthquake. Three of us were trapped in a narrow air pocket for the two days without any food. I stayed awake, praying to Allah to save us,” she said.

“Then one of my friends died and her body started to rot. Every minute felt like a day and I couldn’t even move because of the position of my hand.”

Doctor Hiralal Roy said that the 750-bed hospital was overwhelmed, treating more than 1,200 for the last two days.

“At one stage even our corridors were filled up with injured workers,” he said.

“We asked those with less serious injuries to vacate their beds for the critically injured. There are scores of workers who have lost their limbs or have serious injuries to their chest and head and some have gangrene.”

While some patients had to have their limbs severed at the scene, many others had to undergo amputations in hospital as a result of their injuries.

Dozens of patients could be seen writhing in agony after their operations, weeping in pain.

Supplies in the clinic’s blood bank were exhausted within an hour of the disaster, prompting the authorities to appeal for donations.

“Believe me, thousands responded within hours,” said the doctor.

Dozens of rescue workers also needed treatment at the hospital after being overwhelmed by the stench of decaying bodies wedged within the wreckage.

“You can’t stand it for more than a few minutes,” said Sukhon who brought fellow rescue worker Nawshad to the clinic.

“The scene is also heart-wrenching, especially when you go near the collapsed staircases. There you can see many of the bodies rotting, with their hands and other limbs jutting out of the rubble.”

Garment workers typically earn about $40 a month and the loss of a limb or another serious injury means an uncertain future, even if they do receive compensation further down the line.

“Can you tell me how I can earn a living? I have a son, wife and a big extended family in my village. I came here to make a living, not to die,” said Parvez Ahmed, 30, who was admitted with serious head injuries.

Police have not said how many people are still unaccounted for. But a textile manufacturers’ association said more than 3,000 workers were in the five factories based in the doomed building.

Officials say they have so far not tried to retrieve some bodies for fear that they could up dislodging more rubble and thus jeopardise the chances of rescuing survivors.

Yesterday they dug holes into the pancaked floors and dragged out more than 50
people alive, including Akter.

Clutching photos in their hands, thousands of people also rushed to the hospital and toured the wards to find out if their missing relatives were among the patients.

“For two days I’ve been looking for my missing sister,” said Shahin Alam, 30. “But no one has an answer.”