Most Rana Plaza survivors, who sustained severe injuries and became traumatised, need continued financial support for long-term treatment to bring them back to normal life.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, several workers described their nightmare that they have been going through since the world’s deadliest building collapse on April 24, 2013.
“I want to walk and to come back to normal life as I was before the Rana Plaza tragedy,” Shahjahan Selim, a survivor of the factory disaster, told the Dhaka Tribune.
Selim sustained several fractures in his legs and became traumatised from that horror incident. Selim worked on the fifth floor of the building.
While narrating the ordeal he faced, Selim said: “I came out of the debris of collapsed building without any injuries, but later entered the building to rescue my fellow colleagues and pulled out around 20 of them.”
“Then started an agonising chapter of my life when the roof bar collapsed on me, breaking my legs and injuring other parts of my body.”
Selim said: “I have still been trying to overcome shock since that horrific incident during the rescue operation, but to no avail.”
CRP physicians suggested long-term physiotherapy and psychotherapy for the survivors in order for their mental release which is expensive.
The Rana Plaza survivor described their compensation not enough to meet treatment cost.
He called upon the government and the authorities concerned to provide them with proper treatment facilities if they really want their well-being.
“I look physically fit but cannot enter any high rise,” said another survivor Jahangir Alam, who is severely shocked.
“I joined a factory and started working there, but when the electricity was out, I felt panicky and shouted loudly.”
“It’s time consuming to bring the survivors back to normal life and they need long-term treatment with a follow-up,” said Kamal Ahmed, who teaches Clinical Psychology at Dhaka University.
If they receive continuous treatment, they will be able to return to normal life, he added.
The Centre for the Rehabilitation for the Paralysed (CRP) are providing free treatment for the workers and they are also giving them follow-up treatment, said BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim.
“Besides, if anyone needs more treatment and if CRP recommends for that, we will consider the matter on humanitarian grounds,” said Azim.
