Bangladesh discarded UK-funded search cameras in Dhaka rescue mission Bangladesh received 20 search cameras, valued at £110,000 and 16 thermal image cameras, worth £77,000, in 2010 by the UN's Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme, but while senior officers received some general training in their use, UN advisors said they believe those on the ground searching for survivors had not. Major Zihad, the fire service's training director said his rescuers could not use the equipment because the gaps between concrete pillars were too narrow and the cavities too dark. The tangle of concrete prevented his men using the thermal cameras to find survivors. In any case his men already had their hands full with torches and oxygen bottles and could not carry them. The situation did not permit. We have used the search vision camera in some places but because the collapse was pancake type, ten stories came to 3 stories, there were very narrow spaces and [my men] could only pass through with crawling. Those spaces faced a little difficulty using search vision camera. The cameras should be more handy. My rescuers went zig zag. The could barely carry oxygen and search light," he said. The thermal camera had not worked properly inside the rubble, but functioned correctly outside, he added. But according to Gerson Brandao, the UN's Humanitarian Affairs advisor in Bangladesh, the equipment was right for a building collapse and could have saved lives had it been used correctly. If equipment has been procured, there should be trained people to use the equipment. If the equipment has been donated and if they have not used the equipment they need to be explain why it is not used. I think they have given a wrong assessment. Lack of skills on how to use this equipment is likely to be a factor. The more sophisticated the equipment, the increased likelihood of saving lives. But reality can be different," he said. Dr Puji Pujiono, the Comprehsnive Disaster Management Programme's project manager, suggested that 30 to 40 senior officers trained in using the equipment had not passed on their knowledge to the rescuers on the ground at Rana Plaza, where conditions were not under control and members of the public were able to wander around the rescue site. The one who goes in inside typically is not a commanding officer. Those that do are untrained. There were no senior people going into the holes. This is Bangladesh," he said.