Special prayers are being held in Bangladesh today for the victims of the factory building collapse. 

Local officials say 300 people were killed when thousands of tonnes of metal and concrete came crashing down on the 3 clothing factories, a bank and some shops that were inside the structure.

62 have been pulled alive from the rubble, but hundreds are still missing.

The building housed factory workers who made clothes for retailers like Primark - which operates as Penneys here in Ireland.

Nurul Haq is from the local fire brigade:

It's now officially the worst industrial accident in the country's history.

Police say the owner of the eight-storey block in Dhaka - a local politician - has gone on the run.

About 2,300 people have been rescued so far, at least half of them injured, from the remains of the building in the commercial suburb of Savar, about 30km from Dhaka.

An industry official has said 3,122 people, mainly female garment workers, had been inside the building despite warnings that it was structurally unsafe.

Many of the women had brought their children to work with them, as their was a creche set up in the building and therefore many children are amongst the dead. 

New Dehli Correspondent with the Irish Times Rahul Bedi told Newstalk Breakfast it is miraculous that some people are still being pulled from the rubble alive: