0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.
0:00:06 > 0:00:11SHOUTING AND SCREAMING
0:00:19 > 0:00:21SHOUTING AND SCREAMING CONTINUES
0:00:46 > 0:00:49We went shopping. And this happened.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51This is what dreams are made of.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55It goes in at the waist. It's got little T-shirt sleeves.
0:00:55 > 0:00:56So yeah, H&M.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00We buy three times as many clothes as we did 30 years ago.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02I've got a rather large River Island bag here.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05I went to Forever 21!
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Fashion haul videos posted by enthusiastic shoppers get
0:01:08 > 0:01:10millions of hits online.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14Today I have a massive Primark haul.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17I got this dress which I'm in love with.
0:01:17 > 0:01:18Super jolie.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21SHE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Fashions change faster and cost less than ever before.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27I picked this one up for £8.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29This was £12, which I think
0:01:29 > 0:01:31is a huge bargain for something as cool as this.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:01:35 > 0:01:39Almost all of us own something made in Bangladesh.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:01:46 > 0:01:47I bought two dresses.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49They're the same dress just in different colours.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52I got another dress and, yes, I don't need any more dresses.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02Hopefully, they won't be showing too much, like, butt cleavage,
0:02:02 > 0:02:03because they're quite short.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29In a desperately poor country making our clothes is the single
0:02:29 > 0:02:32biggest earner for Bangladesh's 150 million people.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38It now accounts for almost 80% of the country's exports
0:02:38 > 0:02:40and provides millions of jobs.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46It all started with one shirt.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53The first shirt made by Desh trainees in Korea in 1979.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54So this has a history?
0:02:54 > 0:02:57- Yes, that's history. - It's history.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59It should really be in a museum.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03My father is essentially the person who set up the garment
0:03:03 > 0:03:05industry in Bangladesh.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11What he wanted, as a big patriot, was to see the country grow,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14for it to be the beginning of industrialisation,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17for the country to have an economic backbone.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22After independence in 1971,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Bangladesh was one of the poorest countries on earth.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Vidiya's father, Noorul Quader, a former civil servant,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32had a vision of how to transform the country.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39In 1978, he sent 130 trainees to South Korea,
0:03:39 > 0:03:42where they learnt how to mass-produce clothes.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48When they returned, he opened the first factory making clothes only for export.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Desh garments is still run by the family today.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57When I'm in the UK and I pick up something
0:03:57 > 0:04:01and I see "made in Bangladesh," I personally feel proud
0:04:01 > 0:04:04because I know my father was behind this whole initiative.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Well, he was always thinking about the women,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11How to go about or do something for the women, because women
0:04:11 > 0:04:18are very dependent in our country and not so literate in the village.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19I think that's how he was thinking.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:05:07 > 0:05:11Since 1979, tens of millions of people have migrated from the
0:05:11 > 0:05:15countryside to cities - many to work in the growing clothing industry.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Shirin and Halima eventually settled in the outskirts
0:05:21 > 0:05:24of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, in a district called Savar.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31The area has been transformed by the arrival of garment factories.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:05:56 > 0:05:59So many changes -
0:05:59 > 0:06:02buildings, residential plots,
0:06:02 > 0:06:06shopping centre, garments.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08Very, very changes in 20 years.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18For the new arrivals, Savar was an exciting place, offering
0:06:18 > 0:06:21the possibility of liberation for young Bangladeshi women.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Shopna Khatun arrived in the city as a teenager.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:07:57 > 0:07:59For workers from the countryside,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02wages of around £5 a week were life-changing.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06This army of cheap labour ensured that,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09after China, Bangladesh would become the world's largest
0:08:09 > 0:08:13supplier of clothes - a trade worth more than £15 billion a year.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22But the vast profits on offer created a dark side to the industry.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:08:35 > 0:08:39In Bangladesh, business and politics have become mixed to a degree
0:08:39 > 0:08:42where corruption often dominates the clothing industry.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48In Savar, one of the most powerful businessmen was Sohel Rana.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Rana built his fortune selling off farmland to
0:08:53 > 0:08:54developers at a huge profit.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Brash and bullying, he had excellent political connections
0:09:00 > 0:09:04and controlled the local youth wing of Bangladesh's ruling party.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Local journalists claim his political followers were
0:09:08 > 0:09:12a force which protected him and intimidated his rivals.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Rana inspired fear in the factory workers.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:10:11 > 0:10:15In 2009, Rana opened a prestigious new factory complex
0:10:15 > 0:10:17in the centre of Savar.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21He named it after himself - the Rana Plaza.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25Garment factories rented space in the building
0:10:25 > 0:10:28and eventually would provide up to 5,000 new jobs.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Most of the workers who flocked there cared
0:10:35 > 0:10:38little about the man who built the Plaza.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41For women like Rebeka, a job was a god-send.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:11:37 > 0:11:41The Rana Plaza opened during a boom in the clothing business.
0:11:41 > 0:11:42Across Bangladesh,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45clothing exports were growing by more than 20% a year.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Business was so good Sohel Rana added three floors
0:11:51 > 0:11:54to his building, and allowed the installation of massive
0:11:54 > 0:11:56generators in these upper levels.
0:11:58 > 0:12:03For a man with Rana's connections, planning permission was a formality.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08The five factories in the building were now making
0:12:08 > 0:12:11millions of clothes for more than 20 Western companies.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Nearly all Western companies had strict welfare guidelines
0:13:27 > 0:13:29that their suppliers were supposed to follow.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Child labour had been banned, along with excessive working hours.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40But with so many different suppliers and sub-contractors,
0:13:40 > 0:13:41the rules were difficult to enforce
0:13:41 > 0:13:45and it could be easy for Bangladeshi suppliers to cheat.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50When Shirin started work at the Rana Plaza she was just 15.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:14:06 > 0:14:10With new factories opening every week, competition was fierce.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14Orders had to be delivered on budget and on time.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18The pace of production in the Rana Plaza building was furious.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24Dipu Asaduzzaman was the production manager on the fifth floor factory.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:14:50 > 0:14:54These pressures led to corners being cut across Bangladesh.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00In 2012, fire destroyed the Tazreen fashion factory in Dhaka.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03Over 100 workers died.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07There were no fire escapes and some exits were locked.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12It was the worst of many tragedies across the industry.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17But the work went on for the men and women of the Rana Plaza.
0:15:22 > 0:15:23TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:16:42 > 0:16:45By April 23rd, 2013,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49all the ingredients for disaster were in place at the Rana Plaza.
0:16:52 > 0:16:53TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:17:08 > 0:17:11Shariful Islam worked as a supervisor in the factory
0:17:11 > 0:17:12on the second floor.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:18:25 > 0:18:28Rumours that there were a crack in the pillar quickly
0:18:28 > 0:18:31spread around the building and the factory workers rushed outside.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36Television journalist, Nazmul Huda, headed there with his camera.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:18:55 > 0:18:58In the wake of the Tazreen fashion fire, the crack
0:18:58 > 0:19:01in the Rana Plaza was potentially a big story for the local media.
0:19:06 > 0:19:07TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Eventually, Sohel Rana agreed to talk to Nazmul Huda
0:20:35 > 0:20:36and other journalists.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Nazmul's report about the crack in the building went out that
0:21:55 > 0:21:57night on national TV.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:22:09 > 0:22:12Despite the news coverage, the factory workers were told to
0:22:12 > 0:22:14report for work as usual the next morning.
0:22:53 > 0:22:54In the morning,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58Javed Mostifa's article was published in a national newspaper.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:24:14 > 0:24:18The garment workers gathered nervously outside the Rana Plaza.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21A bank on the ground floor had stayed closed.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Its owners considered the building too dangerous.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28But Sohel Rana and the factory managers insisted
0:24:28 > 0:24:29the building was safe.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:26:57 > 0:27:03TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:28:40 > 0:28:42SCREAMING AND SHOUTING
0:28:45 > 0:28:49It took less than 90 seconds for the eight storey building to collapse.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:29:19 > 0:29:23Some workers survived by jumping to safety as the building fell.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35Thousands of others were left trapped inside.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:32:08 > 0:32:13TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:32:46 > 0:32:49SHOUTING
0:32:52 > 0:32:55SIRENS WAIL
0:33:11 > 0:33:16TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:34:18 > 0:34:21The scale of the disaster overwhelmed the emergency services.
0:34:23 > 0:34:24Hundreds of local people
0:34:24 > 0:34:27and factory workers started frantic rescue attempts.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42As pictures from the scene began to be broadcast,
0:34:42 > 0:34:46more volunteers arrived from throughout the city.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48Many risked their own lives to help.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:36:28 > 0:36:32In the first few hours after the collapse, scores of people
0:36:32 > 0:36:35trapped, like Shirin, were pulled out alive by the volunteers.
0:37:34 > 0:37:35Monir decided he had no choice
0:37:35 > 0:37:38but to carry out the amputation by himself.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:38:10 > 0:38:14As the day went on, conditions inside the building became more
0:38:14 > 0:38:15and more desperate.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19As the first night fell, the full horror of the tragedy was
0:39:19 > 0:39:23becoming apparent as more and more bodies were recovered.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27Thousands of relatives kept vigil,
0:39:27 > 0:39:29desperate for news of their loved ones.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59Shopna had been trapped inside for nine hours when she was rescued.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02As the night went on,
0:40:02 > 0:40:04people still inside the building battled to survive.
0:40:07 > 0:40:14TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:40:45 > 0:40:47I was there the whole day.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53And I went to the back part of the factory
0:40:53 > 0:40:56and I saw there were many dead bodies.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00And I saw two of them in the middle,
0:41:00 > 0:41:01so I just looked at them.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11One thing was moving in my head that our garment workers,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14they are cheap labour, we know about this.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20International brands, they come to our country to get cheap labour,
0:41:20 > 0:41:23but now their life also becomes so cheap.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25That time I was just thinking these things.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28And somehow I feel so close with them.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38WHISTLES BLOW
0:42:36 > 0:42:40At 11.30 that night, over 14 hours after the collapse,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43Rebeka too was rescued.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:42:55 > 0:42:59By the second day, the majority of people being found were dead.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03But some still survived,
0:43:03 > 0:43:06trapped by the fallen structure of the building.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18The hunt for survivors - and for bodies - went on for three weeks.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:45:17 > 0:45:19As the scale of the disaster sunk in,
0:45:19 > 0:45:22garment workers across Bangladesh rioted.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25The world's attention focused on the Bangladeshi clothing industry.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Questions were asked about safety standards,
0:45:30 > 0:45:33corruption and lax regulation.
0:45:33 > 0:45:35There was even talk of a consumer boycott.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42The government knew it needed to be seen to act,
0:45:42 > 0:45:46and it focused its attention on the building's owner, Sohel Rana,
0:45:46 > 0:45:48whose whereabouts remained unknown.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:46:17 > 0:46:19Now the hunt was on.
0:46:20 > 0:46:22In charge was Colonel Ziaul Ashan.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42After four days, Rana was caught attempting to flee to India.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04The authorities appeared keen to blame the tragedy on the greed
0:47:04 > 0:47:06and negligence of one man.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:47:24 > 0:47:29A government inquiry soon concluded Rana had ignored safety advice
0:47:29 > 0:47:32when he added three extra floors to his building -
0:47:32 > 0:47:35and suggested he'd paid bribes to obtain permission to do it.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:48:52 > 0:48:56Working conditions in the developing world have become a hugely
0:48:56 > 0:48:58sensitive issue for Western clothing companies.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02Retailer Primark was the first to acknowledge that
0:49:02 > 0:49:05some of its clothes had been made in the factory building
0:49:05 > 0:49:08and has donated 9 million to the survivors
0:49:08 > 0:49:11and the families of the dead who were making its clothes.
0:49:12 > 0:49:17They're also giving 3 million to other workers in the building.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19Other companies, including Loblaw, Matalan
0:49:19 > 0:49:22and Bonmarche are making smaller donations.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31But some families may never receive compensation.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38322 unidentified bodies were buried here.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43Each board has a number linking it to a DNA sample.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48In a year, only half the bodies have been successfully identified.
0:49:51 > 0:49:53She'll be still missing.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57She is missing, Moni.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59She is missing.
0:49:59 > 0:50:03Following her experience at the Rana Plaza, photographer Taslima Akhter
0:50:03 > 0:50:07has spent a year seeking justice for the families of the missing.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10The missing workers who are still missing,
0:50:10 > 0:50:16they haven't got any compensation, any emergency fund from government
0:50:16 > 0:50:23fund, because they have not any proof that their family is missing.
0:50:23 > 0:50:28But they need help because they don't know how to write and to read.
0:50:28 > 0:50:30So all the time they need help.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37That is Rekha. She is so young.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41I think she is not 18.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45She had to say that she is 18 because otherwise
0:50:45 > 0:50:47she cannot get a job.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03More than a year on, human remains are still being
0:51:03 > 0:51:06found at the site, among the debris and blood soaked clothes.
0:51:08 > 0:51:12TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:51:44 > 0:51:48Since the disaster, some things have changed in Bangladesh's
0:51:48 > 0:51:49clothing industry.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52Most Western companies have pledged to inspect
0:51:52 > 0:51:54the structures of the factories that make their clothes.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59The Bangladeshi government has doubled the minimum wage.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03At around £40 a month, it remains one of the lowest in the world.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09This raises fundamental issues for the global garment industry.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12Vidiya Khan, the daughter of the one of the first men to export
0:52:12 > 0:52:15clothes from Bangladesh, owns a clothing factory.
0:52:16 > 0:52:21If you want us to pay more and do more compliant factories,
0:52:21 > 0:52:25then at the end of the day the retailers have to pay us more.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29It is not a question of a clean shirt agenda
0:52:29 > 0:52:31and a green something here and a green something there
0:52:31 > 0:52:35and a fair wages campaign here and there - no.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39Get the retailers together and make sure they pay us five cents more.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43Not ten, not even ten, we don't even want ten cents, we want five,
0:52:43 > 0:52:46we're happy with five cents on each piece of garment.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51The fear is that the demand for clothing to be cheap
0:52:51 > 0:52:54is so strong, that international brands will simply
0:52:54 > 0:52:58switch their manufacturing to other countries where labour is cheaper.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01For Bangladesh, this would be a disaster.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04Can you imagine the volume,
0:53:04 > 0:53:07the number of women that this industry supports?
0:53:07 > 0:53:09It's not men, it's women.
0:53:09 > 0:53:15For women to have that much empowerment, it's fantastic.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19When Rana Plaza fell, reporters went to those workers
0:53:19 > 0:53:20and they interviewed them and said,
0:53:20 > 0:53:23"Would you ever work in a garments factory again?"
0:53:23 > 0:53:25and many workers said "no".
0:53:25 > 0:53:27But then there are many workers who said,
0:53:27 > 0:53:31"Don't take this away from us because this is all we have,
0:53:31 > 0:53:33"we do not want to go back to the villages".
0:53:41 > 0:53:44The workers who survived the Rana Plaza are trying to
0:53:44 > 0:53:45rebuild their lives.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:54:38 > 0:54:42TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI:
0:55:16 > 0:55:19TRANSLATION:
0:55:21 > 0:55:23Rebeka had not known she was pregnant
0:55:23 > 0:55:26when she was trapped inside the building.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58Monir was always an ambitious businessman, but
0:55:58 > 0:56:02since rescuing survivors from the rubble, his priorities have changed.
0:56:04 > 0:56:10TRANSLATION:
0:56:15 > 0:56:17He's now set up a factory that's a co-operative
0:56:17 > 0:56:21owned by its workers, who are survivors of the Rana Plaza.
0:56:22 > 0:56:26It's called "Oparajeyo" - "Undefeated."
0:56:26 > 0:56:28Shirin, Shopna and Halima all work here.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18Bangladesh is still one of the poorest countries in Asia.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23But helped by the clothing industry, the economy is growing fast.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30Despite the culture of low wages, corruption and exploitation which
0:57:30 > 0:57:34led to the Rana Plaza disaster, there is optimism for the future.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39TRANSLATION FROM BENGALI: