There are heroes and then there is Didar Hossain. On the 24th of April 2013, Hossain was busy working the line at a factory in Dhaka, Bangledesh where he makes just $70 a month.

Above the din of the machinery he heard a massive sound. He and others ran to the window of the garment factory where they worked and saw that the 9 story building on the opposite side of the street had collapsed.

Hossain told the BBC World Service: “All I could see from the window was this dust-like fog – it was really dark, and smoky. We were screaming and trying to get out, but the security guard stopped us and said: ‘No, you can’t go outside.’ But I pushed past him and went out.”

The collapse of the nine-story Rana Plaza factory building made world news at the time. Hundreds of people were killed and dozens remained trapped for a number of days inside the rubble.

Hossain said he knew people were working in the factories and realised that they would be trapped, “as a human being, I felt it was my duty to try and help other human beings.”

Hossain explained that he hunted around the outside of the rubble and managed to find a way into the building via what used to be the 6th floor.

Against all warnings from emergency services and other people present, Hossain climbed into the gnarled mess of concrete and dust.

“When I first entered there was a body without a head – so I brought that body out,” he said.

“The space was so narrow it was hard to get in. I put my head in as far as I could and realised I could break things and force my way through.

“I was very frightened, obviously. It was dangerous, but if I had thought about it I would never have been able to save those people.”

Hossain managed to pull 34 people to safety during the extent of his heroic rescue efforts. At any time the building could have collapsed further, trapping him or crushing him to death.

On the second day of the rescue operation he found a woman named Aana Akhter. Her hand had been crushed beneath the rubble, trapping her steadfast.

Hossain said, “I spent five hours with her. She was 18-22m inside, on the 3rd floor. She was crying a lot, and when I got to her she was saying: ‘Please brother, don’t leave me, get me out – even if you have to cut off my hand.’

“So I went out again and told a doctor who was there that he needed to cut off her hand to get her out. But he said: ‘I can’t go in there, I’m frightened. You do it.’ So he gave me a knife and some anaesthetic so I could amputate her hand.

“At that moment I was not frightened because I needed to save the girl. I knew that if I was afraid she would die. I did not want to cut off her hand, and I tried to save her without losing her hand.

“I told her: ‘I’m leaving, you stay here and somebody else will rescue you’. But she said: ‘No, please save my life, even if you have to amputate my hand.’ There was no other way, so with her permission I did it.”

Hossain explained that using only the knife it took a long time. Furthermore, the anaesthesia was only in her hand, so she was conscious and able to watch while he amputated.

“She was screaming and I was screaming too, and I cried when I saw her crying. I felt really bad, but there was no other way,” he said.

The nightmare did not end there for Didar Hossain, or some of the others he rescued. Close to where he had found Aana Akhter, was a man with his leg stuck under a beam. He too, begged Hossain to help him, pleading him to use the knife on his leg.

Without any anaesthesia this time, Hossain began to cut through the man’s leg to free him.

Tears in the aftermath

Hossain went to the hospital to visit the girl whose hand he had amputated. “She was looking at me before I even reached her bed,” he said, “I asked her whether she recognised me and she said that she did and that I was the person who saved her life.

“I wished her to get better and apologised to her – I explained that I did not have any other option than to cut her her hand. She said: ‘If you hadn’t done it I wouldn’t have got out alive; it’s I who should say sorry to you for the hardship you went through in order to rescue me.’ Her parents had tears in their eyes and thanked me for saving their daughter’s life.”

A True Hero

Didar Hossain did not stop during the first few days of the Rana Plaza factory rescue operation. “I went in on Wednesday about 09:00; didn’t finish until Friday at 13:00. I worked all that time,” he told the BBC.

“Whenever I came out I drank water and I always kept a bottle with me. There was always food outside the building, so I ate that and drank some water and then I carried on.

“Afterwards I was ill for a couple of days – I couldn’t eat anything, and had vocal problems. My family told me to rest, or go to the doctor, but I said I just needed sleep. But I couldn’t sleep, not for days. Whenever I started to fall asleep I felt like someone was calling me.

“I have a lot of memories, particularly about the hand and foot being amputated. And the dead bodies – they haunt me. Some had no heads; with one the eyes had come out. Those images are horrible and they still haunt me.

“I never thought I was a hero – I’m just an ordinary person trying to help and I’m grateful to God that I could help.”

(Sources / Image Credits: BBC World Service, Telegraph.co.uk, Associated Press / A.M. Ahad, Suska, NY Times)