Dhaka factories death toll passes 700

Garment workers who survived the collapse blocked a major highway to demand improved wages and benefits

Workers and army personnel use heavy machinery to clear the site and recover bodies of victims from the rubble of the garment factory building collapse near Dhaka, Bangladesh (AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous)

The death toll from last month's collapse of a building housing garment factories in Bangladesh has passed 700, police said today.

The police control room overseeing the recovery operation said the toll reached 705 as workers pulled more bodies out of the wreckage of the country's worst-ever industrial disaster.

Also today, hundreds of garment workers who survived the April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza blocked a major highway near the accident site in a Dhaka suburb to demand improved wages and benefits.

The protesters were employed in five garment factories housed in the illegally built eight-storey building.

Local government administrator Yousuf Harun said they are working with a garment industry body to ensure the workers are paid.

No violence was reported, although traffic was disrupted for hours.

AP