DHAKA, Bangladesh, April 29 (UPI) -- Bangladeshi officials said they no longer expect to find survivors of a building collapse that killed at least 380 people. One said there was "little hope."
Cranes were used to clear concrete slabs weighing 5-to-12 tons in the search Monday at the site at Rana Plaza in Savar, near Dhaka, and extra safety precautions were taken to protect anyone who might still alive in the rubble, BDNews24 reported.
The eight-story factory building collapsed Wednesday.
The death toll was at least 380, with an unknown number of people missing.
About 3,000 people were believed to have been working in the building when it collapsed. About 2,430 were known to have survived.
Some corpses were spotted during the rescue operation, BDNews24 said.
Inter-Service Public Relations Directorate Director Shahinul Islam said rescue operations would resume once the larger debris is cleared.
"We are proceeding cautiously. If there is still a soul alive, we will try to rescue that person," Islam said. "We are giving the highest priority to saving people, but there is little hope of finding anyone alive."
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheik Hasina visited the site Monday, the BBC said. Hasina also visited some of the hospitalized survivors.
Seven people, including the owner of the building and factory owners, have been arrested.
Municipal engineers allegedly approved the safety of the building the day before it collapsed, the BBC reported.
