Death of Abdus Taslim (30) on 23 November 2007 from falling from the sixth floor or an under-construction building in Rama Krishna Mission Road in Dhaka which was developed by Estate Developers Bangladesh Limited (EDB),

An investigation took place in January 2008 and involved taking statements from four people

Statement of office peon
He said, “I was assisting the builders on the ground floor. At that time something dropped from above with a loud bang. I looked up and saw it was Taslim. He was lying upside down on the boundary wall. Blood was coming out of his mouth. He was taken to hospital. I don’t know if any monetary compensation has been given or not.”

Statement of a security guard
He said: “I was not there at the time of the accident. When I came to work in the afternoon, I heard that one worker called Taslim had died after falling down from the sixth floor. I heard that the owners helped his family as beat they could with monetary support. I don’t know anything more about it”. 

Statement of a  manager from EDB
He said- “Taslim, who died in that accident, used to work as a helper to the rod-cutters. Long ago his brother-in-law asked the contractor to take him on as a worker, because he wanted Taslim to go abroad and he needed training in this type of work. That is how Taslim started working here. On 23.11.2007, the day of the occurrence, at 9 a.m. Taslim fell down from a platform on the sixth floor because of his own negligence while bending rods. He died after he was taken to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The owner of the Estate Developers Limited gave 100,000 taka in cash to Taslim’s father, as compensation. Moreover, 40,000 taka was spent to send the dead-body to his village home. The owners have supplied necessary belts for the safety of the workers, but the workers do not use them. As long as the managers are there, they use the belts otherwise they take it off. In addition to this, sometimes the workers work after taking drugs (cannabis). As a result these, accidents happen. The owners lose money because of these incidents. I have told the workers that if they cannot stop taking drugs, they should leave the job, otherwise I will make a General Diary against you at the police station. Now things are under control.”