Remembering Rana Plaza

Everything you have to know about the disaster (fact-checked)!

Welcome to The Crisps–your weekly newsletter on anti-greenwashing and honest fashion communication. In this issue, use our research to double-check your content on Rana Plaza and what to keep in mind for donations.

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We’ve got a lot of information to cover today. So instead of a long intro, we’re jumping right in after our little reminder:

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Fact-checked information about the Rana Plaza collapse

Every year, there’s misinformation about Rana Plaza circulating the www. With the 11th anniversary coming up, we want to give you a list of fact-checked information that you can use to double-check your content – or create content for remembrance.

Date and Location: The Rana Plaza collapse occurred on April 24, 2013, in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Casualties: 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.¹ ²

Building: Rana Plaza was originally an eight-story commercial building, accommodating various garment factories, shops, and a bank. It was not solely designated as a factory building (which is often falsely communicated). Despite being originally designed for commercial purposes, it was illegally converted into an industrial complex, accommodating garment manufacturing units.³

Owner: The Bangladeshi businessman Dohel Rana owned Rana Plaza. Rana's negligence and disregard for building regulations were major contributing factors to the collapse of Rana Plaza. He illegally constructed additional floors on top of the building without proper permits, compromising its structural integrity. Rana had reportedly close ties with local government officials, which facilitated his illegal activities, including the unauthorized expansion of Rana Plaza.⁴

Causes of Collapse: The collapse was primarily attributed to structural failures and the unauthorized additions of four floors, which were not included in the original building permit. Additionally, the building was constructed on a filled-in pond, compromising its structural integrity. Substandard construction materials were used, leading to an overload of the building structure. Before the collapse, there were numerous administrative failures, with early warning signs being disregarded. The industrial police initially urged evacuation pending an inspection, and engineer Abdur Razak Khan raised concerns about the building's safety only to be arrested for assisting in the illegal addition of floors. Additionally, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Kabir Hossain Sardar declared the building safe after meeting with Rana. Rana himself publicly asserted the building's safety, compelling workers to return to work despite concerns.⁵ ⁶ ⁷ ⁸ ⁹

Working Conditions: Garment workers were forced to work in unsafe conditions despite prior warnings about the building's structural integrity. Some workers were even threatened with dismissal if they refused to enter the building.¹⁰ ¹¹