96 killed, over 1000 injured in Bangladesh building collapse

At least 96 people have been killed and over 1000 others injured after an eight-story building collapsed in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.

The number of deaths at the Rana Plaza is expected to rise.

“Many people are feared dead,” said the director of the fire department, Zehadul Islam.

The Rana Plaza located in the Savar district on the outskirts of Dhaka, housed garment factories and a shopping center.

Reports say that only the ground floor of the building has remained intact.

Fire service and army rescue workers are at the scene, trying to pull out trapped people. Officials say at least 100 are feared to be trapped.

Police officials say factory owners had ignored warnings against allowing workers into the building after a crack was detected the day before.

Last November, 112 workers were killed in a blaze at a factory in an industrial suburb of Dhaka.

In 2005, more than 70 people were killed after a garment factory building collapsed in the same area.

Bangladesh owns around 4,500 garment factories and is the second largest clothes exporter after China.