Bangladesh woman rescued after 17 days in garment factory rubble

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Seventeen days after a Bangladesh garment factory collapsed, rescuers found a woman alive and pulled her from the rubble. The woman, who has been identified by local media as only Reshma, was reportedly found after a workman heard her faint cries of “Save me, save me” from beneath the debris.

As rescuers continue to clean up the rubble, the death toll from the building collapse has climbed above 1,000. Many relatives of garment workers remain at the site, carrying photos of family members they hope to locate.

Woman pulled alive from rubble of Bangladesh factory
Rafiqur Rahman, Reuters
8:23 a.m. EDT, May 10, 2013

SAVAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) – Rescuers pulled a woman on Friday from the rubble of a Bangladesh garment factory 17 days after it collapsed, astonishing workmen who had been searching for bodies of victims of a disaster that has killed more than 1,000 people.

Hundreds of onlookers burst into cheers as army engineers pulled the woman from the basement of the building after a workman helping to clear the wreckage reported hearing her faint cries of “Save me, save me” from beneath the ruins.

Pale, drawn and seemingly unable to walk, the woman, identified by Bangladeshi media only as Reshma, was hoisted out of the rubble on a stretcher, then loaded into an ambulance in scenes broadcast live on television.

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