Rana Plaza collapse

The Rana Plaza collapse (also referred to as the Savar building collapse or the collapse of Rana Plaza) was a structural failure that occurred on 24 April 2013 in the Savar Upazila of Dhaka District, Bangladesh, where an eight-story commercial building called Rana Plaza collapsed. The search for the dead ended on 13 May 2013 with a death toll of 1,134. Approximately 2,500 injured people were rescued from the building. It is considered the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history, as well as the deadliest garment-factory disaster in history and the deadliest industrial accident in the history of Bangladesh.

The building housed five garment factories, a bank, and apartments. It was constructed in 2006 on the site of a former pond, and was built without proper permits. The fifth through eighth floors were added onto the building without supporting walls. The heavy equipment from the garment factories was more than the structure could support. On 23 April 2013, large cracks were discovered in the building. The shops and the bank on the lower floors immediately closed, but the garment factory owners on the upper floors ignored the warnings and forced the workers to return to work the following day. On 24 April, the building collapsed at 9:00 am local time, trapping thousands of people inside.

The court in Bangladesh formally charged 38 people with murder, along with the building owner Sohel Rana. Rana was arrested after a four-day manhunt, apparently trying to flee across the border to India. A total of 41 defendants face charges over the collapse of the complex, which housed five garment factories supplying global brands. Of the 41 people charged, 35 (including Rana) appeared before the court and pleaded not guilty. Rana was not granted bail. He was charged with corruption again in 2017; the trials continue to this day.

The collapse of Rana Plaza was a major turning point in the Bangladesh garment industry. It led to widespread protests and calls for better safety standards. In the aftermath of the disaster, the Bangladesh government passed a new law that requires all garment factories to be inspected by a government-approved agency. The International Labour Organization (ILO) also established the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, which is a legally binding agreement between brands, retailers, and unions to improve safety standards in the Bangladesh garment industry.