Identities of 157 unidentified Rana Plaza building collapse victims have been ascertained through DNA tests

 

 They were among the 322 unidentified dead buried in the city’s Jurain graveyard.Labour Secretary Mikhail Shipar told a press conference at the Secretariat on Monday that of the newly identified victims 41 are males and 116 females.The relatives of the victims would be given compensation ranging from Tk 0.2 million to Tk 0.5 million, he said.The Secretary said identities of the remaining 165 could not be confirmed yet. “But efforts are on to ascertain their identities through DNA tests.”He said the names and addresses of heirs of the identified victims would be sent to the Prime Minister’s office. They would be contacted through the Deputy Commissioners concerned.According to the official count, 1,134 people were killed when the nine-storied Rana Plaza at Savar bus stand on the outskirts of the capital collapsed on Apr 24.The victims were mostly workers of five ready-made garment factories housed in the building.Twenty days after the incident, the authorities wrapped up the rescue operation on May 14 though many claimed that their relations, working in the building, had remained untraced.The retrieved bodies were so badly decomposed that they could not be identified. They were buried in the Jurain graveyard.The samples of the bodies were persevered in DNA Profiling Laboratory of the Dhaka Medical College to enable DNA testing.The Labour Secretary said 540 people claimed the 322 remains and 548 gave samples for DNA tests.He said the cost of the tests amounting to Tk 5 million was met from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) provided the DNA analysis software, he added.The official said heirs of 777 Rana Plaza victims and 36 workers, who had lost their limbs, were given Tk 188.5 million in compensation from Prime Minister’s Office.In addition, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) provided 2,785 workers of the five factories Tk 125.6 million in the form of assistance and medical expenses.The Secretary said identities of the 43 victims of Tazreen Fashions fire in Ashulia, buried in Jurain graveyard, were also confirmed through similar DNA tests.