1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
India electionsIranIsrael-Hamas war

Where are we now?

Nancy IsensonApril 24, 2014

In April 2013, over 1,000 textile workers were killed when a Bangladeshi factory building collapsed. DW looks at the push for compensation for the victims, the plight of garment workers and efforts to improve conditions.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Bnhc
A Bangladeshi woman holds a candle with a portrait of a missing relative, victim of the Rana Plaza building collapse, during a gathering to pay tributes on the eve of the anniversary of the tragedy, in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh
Image: picture-alliance/AP

In April 2013, over 1,000 people lost their lives when the Rana Plaza factory complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh, caught fire and collapsed. Many parties were blamed for the disaster - the building's owner, who flouted building codes, and the international corporations seeking cheaper production without inspecting suppliers on-site. On the anniversary of the disaster, DW takes a look at the push for compensation for the victims and their families, the plight of garment workers and efforts to improve their working conditions.

Skip next section Reports & Analysis

Reports & Analysis

Grahame Lucas

A lingering tragedy

The survivors of collapsed factories in Dhaka are struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.
April 28, 2014
Erster Jahrestag des Einsturzes der Textilfabrik in Bangladesch (Bildergalerie)

Improvements in sight?

It took a tragedy for the world to take notice of a region where people work under disastrous conditions. But has anything changed?
BusinessApril 22, 201406:04 min
A rescuer carries an injured person after a building collapsed in Savar, Bangladesh, April 24, 2013 (Photo: Xinhua/Shariful Islam)

Pay up

Two Bangladeshi women are in Germany to get compensation for collapsed Rana Plaza victims.
April 23, 2014
22.04.2014 Made in Germany Bernd Hinzmann

How can the seamstresses in Bangladesh be helped?

We'll put that question to our studio guest, Bernd Hinzmann. He's a member of the Clean Clothes Campaign and works to improve working conditions in Asia's textile industry.
BusinessApril 22, 201403:37 min
Bangladesh textile workers wait in the street

Slow progress

Dhaka workers still wait for compensation and improved workplace safety standards.
March 24, 2014
Chem Chan with her colleagues in her factory dormitory in Phnom Penh

Factory life

Despite hardships in Cambodia's garment industry, Chem Chan hopes for a better future.
February 12, 2014
Mannequins in a shop window in Bonn, Germany (Photo: DW/M. Mohseni)

The hands behind fashion

The world's fashion industry often uses mistreated workers on low wages to produce its garments.
August 22, 20138 images