Bangladesh factory collapse – update

Bangladesh factory collapse update: June 2015

It is understood that Police in Bangladesh have charged the owner of the Rana Plaza complex with murder following the building’s collapse in 2013 which killed more than 1,100 people.  Sohel Rana and more than a dozen Government officials are among 42 people to face charges for their direct roles in the deaths (see below for more information).

Bangladesh factory  destroyed by fire: November 2012

The owners of the Bangladesh garment factory that was destroyed by fire in November 2012 were denied bail recently after surrendering to a court which sought their arrest over the country’s worst industrial fire that killed 111 workers. Delwar Hossain and his wife Mahmuda Akter handed themselves in to the magistrates court almost six weeks after it issued warrants for their arrest over the 2012 blaze that gutted the Tazreen factory.
It is understood that the court rejected their bail pleas and sent them to jail, according to the prosecutor, and more than 100 people protested outside the court to demand the couple’s conviction. Although warrants were issued on December 31, police have not arrested Hossain and Akter who have been charged over the tragedy at the factory where workers stitched clothes for several Western retailers. It was not made clear why the couple, who have been been living freely in Dhaka despite the warrants, decided to give themselves up to the court at this time. The pair are among 13 people, including factory managers and security guards, charged with arson, culpable homicide (not amounting to murder), and death by negligence over the tragedy. They all face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

The Bangladesh garment factory fire in November 2012  was the country’s deadliest at a garment factory. It has highlighted appalling safety problems in this sector, which is a mainstay of the economy (about four million workers toil for some of the lowest sector wages in the world). Sadly, Bangladesh suffered an even greater tragedy just months later in April when the Rana Plaza garment factory complex collapsed in Dhaka’s outskirts, killing 1,135 people. This makes it one of the world’s worst industrial disasters.  Manufacturing industry is hugely influential in Bangladesh, where some flout safety rules for the 4,500 garment factories, which account for up to 80 percent of this impoverished country’s exports.

Have things improved since this Bangladesh garment factory fire?

Well, why not take at look at this ITV link: Fire door padlocked shut in Bangladesh garment factory

Bangladesh factory collapse – Rana Plaza building collapse update: June 2015

It is understood that Police in Bangladesh have charged the owner of the Rana Plaza complex with murder following the building’s collapse in 2013 which killed more than 1,100 people.  Sohel Rana and more than a dozen Government officials are among 42 people to face charges for their direct roles in the deaths.

They are accused of ignoring warnings not to allow workers into the building the day before it collapsed. Investigators initially had said the accused would be charged with culpable homicide. They have since changed their plans due to the gravity of the accident, which is Bangladesh’s worst industrial disaster. Prosecutors say that if convicted, defendants face the death penalty. 18 people (including 17 of those charged with murder) have been charged with building code violation. Additional floors were added to the original five-storey building, which was meant for office space and shopping malls. Later, illegally built upper floors were transformed into factories.

The prosecution says a court hearing is due to take place on 28 June to decide on further proceedings.

This prosecution is unprecedented: no one in the past has been punished for accidents at garment factories. Such is the seriousness of the disaster, however, that there is no way this case could be ignored.