Haunting Photo Arises Out Of Bangladesh Factory Collapse

On April 24th the Rana Plaza factory building collapse in Bangladesh instantly gripped the hearts of people across the globe as pictures of the aftermath started to flood the internet. One picture in particular has haunted people with its tragic beauty.

The photograph, by Taslima Akhter, depicts a couple in their final moments before their death. A man holds on to his woman while the factory has crashed down all around them. Their bodies now lifeless, still give a snapshot of the deeply human aspect that is usually lost among endless reports of the current death toll and statistics of the building.

"This image, while deeply disturbing, is also hauntingly beautiful. An embrace in death, its tenderness rises above the rubble to touch us where we are most vulnerable. By making it personal, it refuses to let go. This is a photograph that will torment us in our dreams. Quietly it tells us. Never again," says Shahidul Alam of the South Asian Institute of Photography.

Akhter admits that she has no idea who these people are or even what their relationship is to one another. She has said that she has gone to great lengths in an attempt to find out anything about them, but has been unable to. The mystery only adds to the picture's mystique.

"Every time I look back to this photo, I feel uncomfortable - it haunts me," says Akhter. "It's as if they are saying to me, we are not a number - not only cheap labor and cheap lives. We are human beings like you. Our life is precious like yours, and our dreams are precious too."

It is not currently known what precisely caused the collapse, though many are blaming it on poor building planning. The Rana Plaza building was initially meant for shops and offices, and not for factory work. Officials have stressed before that it is very dangerous to put factories in building not meant for the work, as there is a large amount of additional stress due to heavy machinery and large amounts of workers.

That appears to have been the case at Rana Plaza, as inspectors had come the day before the collapse and ordered an immediate evacuation of the building. Office workers were able to stay home the next day, however the factory workers were forced to come in under threat of losing a month's pay if they did not. The building collapsed the day after that inspection, and so far has killed over 1000 people, and there are still many more missing.