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Garment factory owners arrested

April 27, 2013

Police in Bangladesh have arrested the owners of a garment factory, on orders from the prime minister. The building that housed the factory had collapsed, killing hundreds of workers and leaving survivors trapped.

https://p.dw.com/p/18O92
Bildnummer: 59562356 Datum: 24.04.2013 Copyright: imago/Xinhua (130424) -- DHAKA, April 24, 2013 (Xinhua) -- A rescuer carries an injured person after a building collapsed in Savar, Bangladesh, April 24, 2013. At least 70 were killed and over six hundred injured after an eight-storey building in Savar on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka collapsed on Wednesday morning. (Xinhua/Shariful Islam)(zcc) BANGLADESH-DHAKA-BUILDING-COLLAPSE PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxCHN Gesellschaft Einsturz Gebäude Gebäudeeinsturz Einkaufszentrum xcb x2x 2013 quer premiumd Aufmacher 59562356 Date 24 04 2013 Copyright Imago XINHUA Dhaka April 24 2013 XINHUA a Rescuer carries to Injured Person After a Building Collapsed in Savar Bangladesh April 24 2013 AT least 70 Were KILLED and Over Six Hundred Injured After to Eight storey Building in Savar ON The outskirts of The Bangladeshi Capital Dhaka Collapsed ON Wednesday Morning XINHUA Shariful Islam ZCC Bangladesh Dhaka Building Collapse PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxCHN Society Collapse Building Building collapse Shopping Centre x2x 2013 horizontal premiumd Highlight
Image: imago/Xinhua

Police on Saturday arrested the chairman and managing director of a garment factory housed at a collapsed eight-story building, while the death toll climbed to 351 people as rescuers struggled to free survivors from the rubble.

"We've arrested Bazlus Samad, the chairman of New Wave Buttons and New Wave Style factories and Mahmudur Rahaman Tapash, a managing director of one of the plants, after midnight," Deputy Police Chief Shyaml Mukherjee told the AFP news agency.

Police also arrested two government engineers who gave the building the all-clear during an inspection the day before its collapse. All four face charges of death due to negligence.

The building in Savar, a suburb of the capital Dhaka, had reportedly shown cracks in its walls on Tuesday. Police ordered the structure evacuated, but the owners allegedly told the more than 3,000 people employed there to return to work.

The building's owner, Mohammed Sohel Rana, only had a permit for a five-story structure. But he added three stories illegally, according to Abdul Halim, an official with Savar's engineering department. The prime minister has also ordered the arrest of Sohel Rana, who is still on the run. His wife has been detained for questioning.

"Those who're involved, especially the owner who forced the workers to work there, will be punished," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told Bangladeshi lawmakers. "Wherever he is, he will be found and brought to justice."

Survivors trapped in rubble

Meanwhile, rescuers struggled to free survivors from the rubble, while victims' family members clashed with baton-wielding police as they tried to access the site. Police said some 50 people were injured in those clashes

"We want to go inside the building and find our people now," Shahinur Rahman, whose mother was missing, told the Associated Press.

At least 29 people were pulled alive from the rubble on Saturday.

But the heat and dehydration threatened to get to the trapped survivors first, with temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and about 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) at night.

Several North American and European retailers import clothing from the factory. Britain's Primark has acknowledged that it was using a factory in the building.

slk, ccp /lw (AP, AFP)