Woman rescued 17 days after Bangladesh building collapse accused of being a hoax

Published: 2013 June 30 17:18:59 (4983 Views)

The miracle rescue of a Bangladesh seamstress who survived 17 days trapped beneath her collapsed factory's rubble is being declared a hoax by a former colleague and survivor.

Reshma Begum, 19, escaped on foot from the crushing nine-story building and was hospitalized the very same day that April, according to new bombshell claims made to the British newspaper, the Sunday Mirror.

"We escaped together. We both walked away from the rubble," the former Rana Plaza worker who allegedly worked with Begum said.

"We spent two days in hospital but then she vanished. The next time I saw her was on TV 17 days later. They said it was a miracle. But it was a fake."

Begum was found in remarkable condition and wasn't immediately seen suffering dehydration despite claiming to have only little water and four packets of biscuits while trapped.

That colleague, who wished to remain anonymous, has since gone into hiding for their own protection from government ramifications, the paper reports.

In the heartwrenching days that followed the April 24 catastrophe that killed 1,221 people, a woman that was buried alive beneath the rubble caught the burning hope, prayers and attention of millions around the world.

But mystery and suspicions have since swelled with revelations that in the day before her rescue, neighbors within sight of the horrific scene were forcibly evacuated from their homes without a reason given.

The next day they were allowed to return home.

More than 1,200 people were killed when the nine-story factory collapsed in April but a former work colleague and survivor now says they escaped the collapse with Begum the day it went down.

A 24-hour ban on filming the area by the press was also imposed just before her recovery.

Once authorities went in to retrieve the 19-year-old from the tons of debris that had allegedly fallen over her, cameras were allowed to roll once more, broadcasting the miraculous sight to the world.

Her brightly coloured scarf and dress were photographed clean and her face only minimally dusted in white debris.

Her eyes came of particular notice with them seen wide open and without any apparent discomfort to the bright lights after pulled from what was described as a pitch-black tomb.

Some skeptics believe the 19-year-old's miracle rescue was staged to distract the attention from the workers' unsafe conditions.

Begum said she survived off very little water and four packets of biscuits. Witnesses at the scene said she wasn't seen once treated for dehydration.

Begum's landlady also told the Mirror that Begum was treated at the nearby Enam hospital in the day of its collapse.

But any claims against her harrowing tooth-and-nail survival were vehemently denied by the teen in a press conference last week.

"Where I was, you were not there. So you have no idea," Begum bit back at those accusing her rescue as being a hoax after being awarded a high-paying position as ambassador to a five-star Dhaka hotel.

Appearing fresh-faced beneath a green scarf and a paper sash for her hotel across her chest, Begum has gone from earning just $65 per month making jeans to $450.

Her family, mutually defending her daring 17-day rescue, says it's just another reason to be proud of her.

"Her escape IS the miracle everyone thinks it is," her mother Jobeda told the Mirror from her home in Rani Ganj, a remote village approximately 300 miles west of the country's capital of Dhaka.

- NYDaily

Tags: Bangladesh,

Woman rescued 17 days after Bangladesh building collapse accused of being a hoax

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