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Rana Plaza

April 10, 2016 | College
By Zach Cohen

Paki Begum spent two days trapped inside the fallen garment factory complex until volunteer rescuers found her and offered a choice: wait and die, or live without your legs. She chose to live. Image by Jason Motlagh. Bangladesh, 2014.

Lutfer Rahman holds the document that his daughter found next to the body of his wife, Rina Rahman, confirming her death in the collapse. Image by Jason Motlagh. Bangladesh, 2014.
An interactive timeline presentation: The Ghosts of Rana Plaza.

Rajina Aktar survived the January 2013 blaze at Smart Export Garments. Image by Jason Motlagh. Bangladesh, 2013.

A worker sits at her sewing machine. Bangladesh is second only to China in the global fashion business. Image by Fred de Sam Lazaro. Bangladesh, 2013.

Image by Fred de Sam Lazaro. Bangladesh, 2014.

Rafiqul Islam was laying bricks near Rana Plaza when it fell. He plunged into the rubble, and spent the next three weeks underground. Image by Jason Motlagh. Bangladesh, 2014.

The mother of a missing garment worker stares at the ruins of Rana Plaza in August 2013. Image by Jason Motlagh. Bangladesh, 2013.

Rashida Begum's teenage daughter Nasima died at Rana Plaza. She often returns to the site to mourn with other relatives. Image by Jason Motlagh. Bangladesh, 2014.

Paki Begum, a Rana Plaza survivor, tests out her prosthetic legs at a rehabilitation center in September 2013. The former garment worker has since moved from Dhaka and swears that her daughters will never work in a factory. Image by Jason Motlagh. Bangladesh, 2013.

Educator Notes: 

The articles and videos attached can be used as part of a lesson exploring the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh, which is considered one of the worst accidents ever experienced by garment workers.

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