Bangladesh Dhaka building collapse leaves 80 dead

At least 80 people have been killed and many more are feared trapped after an eight-storey building collapsed on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, government officials say.

Frantic efforts are under way to rescue those beneath the debris. Hundreds of people were injured by the collapse.

The army is helping with the rescue operation in the Savar area.

Building collapses are common in Bangladesh where
many multi-storey blocks are built in violation of rules.

The eight-storey building contained a clothing factory, a bank and several other shops. It collapsed during the morning rush hour.

Many people have gathered near the scene looking for friends and relatives.

Dhaka resident Tahsin Mahmoo described the scene as a looking like a "war zone" to the BBC, adding that appeals had been put out for citizens to donate blood.

Rescue workers are using concrete cutters and cranes to dig through the rubble, the BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan in Dhaka reports.

"Already we've rescued three to four hundred people... Now we are cutting through the concrete walls and trying to get inside with the help of sniffer dogs," fire brigade chief Ali Ahmed Khan told the BBC Bengali service.

Many onlookers also joined the rescue effort using their bare hands.

Police told local media that the rear of the building had suddenly started to collapse on Wednesday morning, and within a short time the whole structure - except the main pillar and parts of the front wall - had caved-in, triggering panic.

An eyewitness described the moment of the building's collapse: "It became completely dark on this side. There was a lot of dust from the collapsing debris, so we ran downstairs. When we came out we saw the whole building collapsed."

Only the ground floor of the Rana Plaza in Sava remained intact after the collapse, officials said.

It is not yet clear what caused the collapse, but local media reports said a crack was detected in the block on Tuesday.

One worker rescued from the building told the BBC that factory owners had told workers on Wednesday morning "not to worry" and that "they said they had examined the crack".

An opposition strike planned for Wednesday has been called off to aid the rescue effort, local media reports say.

In November, a fire at a garment factory in a Dhaka suburb killed at least 110 people and triggered a public outcry about safety standards in the industry.

The last major building collapse was in 2010, when a four-storey building collapsed in Dhaka, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others.

In 2005, there was a building collapse near the site of Wednesday's incident, killing 64 people.

Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing competitively priced clothes for major Western retailers which benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.

Following November's fire, Western retail chains that buy from factories in Bangladesh urged factory owners to improve safety standards.