Workers continue rescue and recovery operations 12 days after the Rana Plaza building collapsed, in Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh on Tuesday, May 7, 2013. More than 700 people died when the Rana Plaza, which housed garment factories and shops, collapsed on April 24. Workers continue to find bodies, many of them decomposed and difficult to recognize.
(CNN) -- Bangladesh's Cabinet decided to inspect the safety and security of all garment factories Monday after last week's deadly building collapse, state news reported.
At least 398 people were killed when a factory collapsed at Rana Plaza in Savar, a Red Crescent official told CNN, and up to 2,773 people survived.
Under the inspection plan, a committee led by a state minister would visit the factories and submit a report to the government about the safety measures, Cabinet Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters.
The panel includes the ministries of home, labor, disaster management, textiles, defense, industries and environment.
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M.S. Akbar, chairman of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, said the rescue operation might be completed by Tuesday or Wednesday. At least two bodies were pulled from the wreckage Monday, but no survivors were found.
Rescuers are now using heavy machinery to remove wreckage at the site of the collapsed building, suggesting the hunt for survivors of the disaster is coming to an end.
"It is hardest for those family members who do not know if their loved ones are dead or alive or trapped," Akbar said. The chances of finding more survivors were dim "unless there's a miracle."
Many workers hailed from the country's north
Most of the factory workers were between the ages of 18 and 22, said Morshed Ali Khan, editor of the local Daily Star newspaper. Most were impoverished residents from the country's northern region who went to the city to find work. Many were parents with children still waiting for them to come home.
Khan has seen several hundred families looking for loved ones each of the past five nights.
"A strong stench of rotting human flesh has taken over the scene. It is very hard to stand next to the site," he told CNN.
Yet children and their grandparents still waited at the scene Monday. They said they would camp out at the site until they get the body of their loved one, Khan said.
Some relatives have lost work while waiting at the site. Many sleep on the street or quietly clutch a photo. One man was talking to himself with a photo of his son in his hand.
Some have given up hope of finding their relatives alive.
"Yesterday a woman told me, 'I want the dead body of my daughter so I can take her dead body home to bury,' " Khan said.
Rescue efforts
Rescue teams have been combing through the debris since Wednesday morning, when the nine-story building collapsed and buried thousands of garment workers.
READ: Desperate search continues after building collapse
"We will proceed extremely cautiously," Brig. Gen. Ajmal Kabir told reporters at the scene Sunday.
Sunday evening's rescue efforts were disrupted by reports that a fire had broken out as workers tried to cut through mangled metal trapping a woman identified only as Shahana.
Shahinul Islam of Bangladesh's Inter Services Public Relations -- a department of the Ministry of Defense -- told reporters that the fire was put out shortly afterward, but it was not clear what happened to the woman. Local media reports said she died.
The commercial building, containing five garment factories, several shops and a bank, was in Savar, about 45 kilometers (27 miles) from the capital, Dhaka.
Cracks had appeared in the building structure a day before the collapse, but garment workers were told to come in despite their concerns that the building was unsafe.
Authorities have arrested seven people: three factory owners; two government engineers; the owner of the building, Sohel Rana, a local leader of the ruling Awami League who was caught as he tried to flee the country; and Rana's father.
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John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, told CNN that while people should be held accountable, Bangladesh's government and the garment industry must also take steps to protect their workers.
He said research conducted by Human Rights Watch indicated that there were only 18 inspectors for the 100,000 factories operating in and around Dhaka.
"What this tragedy really needs to result in is stricter labor laws, stricter safety laws and the government coming to terms with the reality that it can't just supply all these workers without giving those workers their rights.
"There are only so many tragedies like this that can happen before Western retailers and Western buyers ... realize that they are going to go elsewhere, not because they necessarily can get lower prices but because the scandal is too much."
Journalist Katie Hunt wrote and reported from Hong Kong and Aliza Kassim reported from Atlanta. CNN's Saeed Ahmed, Harmeet Singh and Joe Sterling and journalist Farid Ahmed contributed to this report.
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Rescue workers recover a body from the rubble on May 7, 2013.
Relatives place a body in the back of a truck on May 7, 2013.
A woman attempts to identify one of the bodies kept in a schoolyard on May 7, 2013.
Members of the Bangladeshi army and firefighters carry the body of a garment worker from the scene of the building collapse in Savar, outside Dhaka, on Sunday, May 5.
A woman holds a portrait of her missing relative as she sleeps on Saturday, May 4.
Relatives attempt to identify the bodies of loved ones on May 4.
Rescue workers dig out debris from the Rana Plaza building as Bangladeshi army personnel continue the second phase of a rescue operation using heavy equipment on Friday, May 3.
A woman reacts on May 3 after identifying a body found in the rubble.
A man stands amid the destruction as rescue and army personnel continue recovery operations on May 3.
A woman holds up a picture of a missing person believed to be trapped in the rubble on May 3.
A garment worker rescued from the wreckage of the Rana Plaza building lies in a hospital in Dhaka on Thursday, May 2.
A woman weeps after identifying her daughter's body in the rubble in Savar on May 2.
Rescue workers move debris as Bangladeshi army personnel continue the second phase of a rescue operation at the site of the collapsed building in Savar on May 2.
A woman mourns before a mass burial in Dhaka on Wednesday, May 1.
Unidentified bodies from the rubble lie on the ground as people gather for a mass burial in Dhaka on May 1.
Workers dig graves during a mass burial of unidentified garment workers on May 1.
Sohel Rana, owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building, wears police-issued body armor and a helmet while being escorted to court in Dhaka on Tuesday, April 30. Rana was arrested near the Indian border, and protesters called for him to be hanged.
Bangladeshi troops carry the body of a garment worker out of the rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza building in Savar on April 30.
Clothing with Joe Fresh labels lies in the debris on April 30.
Cranes operated by Bangladeshi army personnel work on Monday, April 29.
Firefighters try to control a blaze that started while they were trying to rescue a woman with heavy equipment on April 29.
Bangladeshi army personnel begin the second phase of the rescue operation using heavy equipment on April 29.
Rescuers look for survivors on Sunday, April 28. The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society says the chances of finding anyone alive in the rubble at this date are remote.
A woman mourns on April 28 at the site of the building collapse in Savar.
Rescue workers search for survivors on April 28.
Volunteers sleep before they begin more rescue operations on April 28.
Rescue workers carry a victim's body recovered from the rubble on April 28.
Clothes lie in the rubble on Saturday, April 27.
An arrested owner of a garment factory is escorted to an appearance at the court in Dhaka on April 27. Four people were arrested and four others are being questioned by police.
Relatives hold photos of missing and dead workers outside the factory April 27.
Two Bangladeshi women look at a board with notices posted of missing and dead workers on April 27.
Bangladeshi relatives and workers load a body onto a truck on April 27.
An excavator operated by the Bangladeshi Army removes debris on April 26.
Volunteers and rescue workers conduct rescue operations on April 26.
Rescue workers use textile as a slide to move bodies out of the rubble on April 26.
Rescue workers look for trapped garment workers on April 26.
Rescue workers stand on the rubble of the collapsed building on April 26.
Rescue workers search the rubble for victims and survivors on April 26.
A rescue worker looks for trapped workers on April 26.
Bangladeshi army personnel recover a survivor from rubble on April 26, 48 hours after the collapse.
Volunteers and rescue workers assist in rescue operations on April 26.
A physician assists a survivor after he was recovered from the rubble on April 26.
People rescue garment workers trapped at a building outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Thursday, April 25.
A Bangladeshi woman shows a picture of her missing daughter-in-law she believes is trapped in the collapsed building on April 25.
Bangladeshi firefighters cut a hole through concrete during rescue operations on April 25 in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka.
Volunteers and rescue workers work at the scene on April 25.
A woman appears devastated on April 25 after identifying the body of her husband killed in the building collapse.
Bangladeshi garment workers help evacuate a survivor by using a roll of fabric on April 24.
People rescue garment workers on Wednesday, April 24, after the building caved in, leaving a chaotic mass of broken concrete and twisted metal.
Relatives who lost a brother mourn outside a hospital on April 24.
Rescuers help an injured garment worker to escape from the Rana Plaza building on the outskirts of Dhaka on April 24.
Civilians help an injured garment worker on April 24. Work was proceeding slowly to avoid causing further collapse, an official said.
Rescue workers search for trapped garment workers in the Rana Plaza building on April 24.
An injured Bangladeshi lies on the hospital floor on April 24.
The injured receive treatment at a hospital on April 24.
An injured person rests in a hospital bed on April 24.
People wait anxiously on April 24 while rescuers search for survivors.
Rescuers help an injured person out of the seventh floor on April 24.
Civilians help out in rescue efforts at the collapsed building on April 24.
Hundreds watch the rescue operations on April 24.
People search for garment workers trapped under the debris on April 24.
Rescuers help an injured worker on April 24.
A body is trapped under the damaged building on April 24.
A woman is carried away from the building on April 24.
A rescue worker carries a worker to an ambulance on April 24.
Crowds gather around the collapsed building on April 24.
Rescuers bring out an injured garment worker from the building's sixth floor.
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