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Brave Rojina Begum has told how she had to saw off her own arm without anaesthetic to ­escape the hell of a ­collapsed garment factory .

The sewing machinist had spent three days trapped in a mountain of rubble surrounded by the stench of more than 1,000 decomposing bodies, reports the Sunday People.

As Rojina grew weaker, a voice ­suddenly came out of the darkness.

A doctor had found her but the only way she could be freed was to amputate her left arm which was partly crushed under a beam.

The 26-year-old mum said: “The doctor tried to amputate it but couldn’t reach.

"I said, ‘No matter how hard it is, amputate my arm’. He said ‘I’m giving you a saw and you can do it yourself.’

“At first I said, ‘I can’t. I have no strength.’ It was the start of the third day.

"He said ‘Give it a try.’ I said, ‘OK, give it to me’ and I cut it.

(Image: Getty)

“I never thought that I’d have to ­amputate my own arm. But I was forced to by the situation.

Rojina, who worked at the Rana Plaza factory in the Dhaka sub­district of Savar in Bangladesh, was a survivor of one of the worst industrial accidents in history.

On April 24 last year the eight-storey building collapsed, killing 1,134 people and injuring more than 2,400 others.

The men and women killed were making clothes for top Western companies including Primark and Bonmarche.

Rojina and her colleagues should never had been ­allowed to work that day.

The previous day staff were evacuated after cracks ­appeared in supporting ­pillars and the ceiling.

Despite local newspaper reports saying the building was unsafe, owner Mohammed Sohel Rana insisted his workers should return, threatening to withhold their wages.

Explaining how that day unfolded, Rojina said: “I woke up and cooked. Then I had breakfast.

"I fed my daughter, then sent her to school. After I went inside the factory I saw the rumour was true.

“There was a crack in the pillar and the rods had come out. There were cracks in the ceiling. It could collapse any time.

“I told my sister, ‘We made a mistake coming, let’s leave.’

“At 8.45am the lights suddenly went out.

“When generators kicked in, the whole building shook and came tumbling down.

“I thought, where is my sister? I was worried about her and I was panicking.

“I screamed and as soon as I screamed I fell into darkness. I was calling my sister’s name.”

It took less than 90 seconds for the building to collapse.

(Image: Getty)

Rojina said: “I was lying in a cramped space in darkness. My arm was trapped under rods, beams, machines, and tables.

"My head hurt and I was bleeding from my ear. It was horrible. Many of the people around me had died.

"Their blood rolled down my body.

“Everyone was screaming. I was ­thinking, where is my sister?”

After her rescue Rojina’s worst fears were confirmed. Her sister had died, although another girl was found alive after 17 days.

Rojina’s sister was found by a DNA check on 322 unidentified bodies.

She said: “I never imagined in my entire life that I’d have to see my younger sister’s grave. Never.

“I’d hoped to do a lot of things. What will I hope for now? I have only one hand. I can’t do anything.”

Primark has donated £5million to the survivors and families of the dead who were making its clothes.

They are also giving £1.7million to other workers in the building. Other companies, including Matalan and Bonmarche, are making smaller donations.

Last week factory owner Rana, 36, who tried to flee after the disaster , was charged with violating building regulations.

But Rojina says Bangladeshi politicians should take some responsibility.

She said: “If the government had ­withheld planning permission they wouldn’t have been able to build it.”

Clothes To Die For is on BBC Two tomorrow at 9pm.