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Rana Plaza Tragedy Rescuers slip into abyss

Subir Das
More than three months into the country's worst industrial tragedy in Savar, around 150 rescuers are still haunted by the trauma they suffered from the heartbreaking sights of people crying for help from under the Rana Plaza rubble.
Al least 500 civilian and government rescuers have developed post-traumatic disorder, with 150 of them facing it to an
Rescuers
FROM PAGE 1 extent so extreme that it would hamper their professional and family lives, said Dr Abul Kashem, assistant registrar of the National Institute of Mental Health.
Take, for example, Swapan Hossain, 32, who often screams in his sleep at night.
"Right under the pillar there lies a woman. Time is running out. Let us save her," Swapan is quoted as saying on some nights by his brother, Ripon.
He still lives under an illusion that had been a reality three months ago, when he, along with many other brave hearts, raced against time to save those trapped under the wreckage of Rana Plaza following its collapse on April 24.
Untrained volunteers and fire service and army rescuers saved 2,438 lives and recovered 1,115 bodies from the debris of the nine-storey building that housed five garment factories.
At least 1,132 people were killed in the collapse, with several dozens still missing.
"At night, he [Swapan| often goes under the bed and says he must make a way out of these pillars and bricks to rescue people," Ripon told The Daily Star.
"He is in constant fear. He had to give up his poultry business due to his psychological complications," Ripon added.
Dr Kashem said many of these rescuers might have to live with the disorder throughout their lives if they are not given regular counseling and, in some cases, pathological treatment.
Including him, a team of 12 psychiatrists and a psychologist has been giving counseling and treatment to many of the rescuers for
slip
free.
"We treated many such patients at our hospital and at different camps, including those at Enam Medical College Hospital and Adhar Chandra High School in Savar," said Kashem.
He added that his team was making a list of such rescuers, some of whom have lost their jobs due to their mental unfitness.
Another civilian rescuer, Mamun, is now unable to run his tailoring shop in Keraniganj. Now extremely forgetful, he often finds it hard to recall what he said or did only a few minutes earlier. The 24-year-old often freaks out at the sight ofhigh-rises.
"I failed to save a woman who was desperate to come out of the rubble as the lower portion of her body got pinned under a beam. In my dreams, I still hear the woman screaming for help," Mamun told The Daily Star recently.
He is frustrated that the government has shown little care about knowing how the civilian rescuers are now coping with lives.
"While rescuing, another woman was entreating me to save her life by cutting both of her hands that got stuck under a heavy machine. I had to do so, but it pains me so much that I have had a person mutilated for life," he added.
Saydia Gulrukh, a labour rights activist, said that the government must rehabilitate these people so they could return to normal life.
On May 7, a 26-year-old civilian rescuer, Omar Faruq, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, three days after he had been admitted there with high fever and mental disorder.