Death toll in Bangladesh building collapse rises to 540

The death toll rose to 540 from a building collapse in Bangladesh as the rescuers found more bodies in the wreckage Saturday, officials said.

Fifteen bodies were recovered overnight and dozens of people were still unaccounted after the eight-storey building that housed five garment factories collapsed April 26 in Savar, 25 kilometers north-west of Dhaka.

Army Brigadier General Siddiqul Alam Sikder said put the number of missing at about 50 from a previous list of 149.
He said 127 bodies remained unclaimed so far.

More than 2,400 people were injured in the industrial disaster that put Bangladesh under pressure to meet international labour standards for its garment industry, which accounts for 79 per cent of the country's export earnings.