The eight-storey building collapsed on April 24, 2013, trapping hundreds of factory workers.

The number of people killed in last week’s collapse of a factory building on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, is now over 400, BBC reported yesterday, May 1, 2013. A senior army official said a list of 149 people still missing had been compiled with the aid of relatives.

Thousands of workers marched in May Day parades in Dhaka yesterday demanding death penalty for the owner of the eight-storey building. The Rana Plaza Building that housed five factories - including those for garment production - collapsed on April 24, 2013. It was the Bangladesh’s worst ever industrial disaster. Police confirmed that 399 bodies had been pulled out from the wreckage as three other people died in hospital.

Some 2,500 people were injured in the accident. The collapsed building created 600 metric tonnes of rubble, with about 350 tonnes now cleared. Rana Plaza's owner, Mohammed Sohel Rana, is in police custody. A total of eight people have been arrested, including factory owners and engineers. They have been accused of negligence. Cracks appeared in the ill-fated building located in Dhaka’s Savar District the day before the collapse, but workers were reportedly told to continue work.

Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, with the sector making up almost 80 per cent of the country's annual exports. The industry provides employment to about four million people. However, it has faced criticisms over low pay and limited rights given to workers, and for the often dangerous working conditions.