Woman rescued from rubble 17 days after Bangladesh factory disaster

A woman has been rescued from the rubble of a building in Dhaka in Bangladesh 17 days after it collapsed.

The woman, named Reshma, is reported to have no serious injuries. The fire service report that she was discovered in the remains of the second floor of the eight storey building, the Rana Plaza.

The army report that more than 1,000 people lost their lives in the tragedy after the garment factory collapsed and they expect the death toll to rise as work continues to recover bodies and remove rubble.

The remarkable events began when soldiers reportedly heard a noise while clearing the remains in the area, and as work was halted, the woman's hand was seen waving and she was heard to say "I'm still here".

Soldiers and firefighters were brought in to clear surrounding rubble and cut through metal and the woman was pulled out and taken to a nearby military hospital.

A theory among rescuers suggests that the oxygen and water pumped into the remains after the disaster may have contributed to keeping the woman alive for so long.