Bangladesh: Woman found alive 17 days after factory collapse, as death toll tops 1,000 (VIDEO)
Rescue and recovery workers continue their search through the nine-story building’s tangled wreckage in Savar, a suburb of the capital, Dhaka.
As the death toll from the Bangladesh factory collapse rose above 1,000, there was a small glimmer of hope on Friday when a woman was found alive 17 days after the disaster.
"I'm alive. Please rescue me," she called out to rescuers, CNN reported.
Rescuers used handsaws to cut through the rubble as hundreds of people who had been involved in the grim job of removing decomposing bodies, raised their hands together in prayer, the Associated Press reported.
"Allah, you are the greatest, you can do anything. Please allow us all to rescue the survivor just found," said a man on a loudspeaker.
As the woman was freed after 40 minutes, the crowd erupted in applause and wild cheers.
She was taken to a military hospital in an ambulance, reportedly in remarkably good shape, despite her ordeal, the BBC reported.
More from GlobalPost: 18 heartrending pictures of the Bangladesh factory collapse's aftermath (PHOTOS)
The amazing discovery came more than two weeks after South Asia's deadliest industrial disaster.
The grim task of recovering bodies continued Friday, with the total number of people confirmed dead rising to 1,039, said Maj. Zihadul Islam, a fire service official, Reuters reported.
Nine people have been arrested in relation to the factory collapse, including the building's owner as well as the bosses of the garment factories.
More from GlobalPost: Bangladesh factory collapse tragedy visualized in one chart
Video of the rescue, via the Guardian:
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