A COURT in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka charged the two owners of a garment factory and 11 others with manslaughter yesterday over a 2012 fire that killed 112 workers.

It was the first prosecution of factory owners in Bangladesh’s lucrative garment industry, the world’s second largest after China. They face sentences ranging from seven years to life.

Delwar Hossain and his wife Mahmuda Akter, the owners of Tazreen Fashions, pleaded not guilty to the charges. The factory produced clothing for large international retailers including Wal-Mart.

Also charged were 11 factory managers and security guards. Eight of the accused were present in cour, while five remain at large and will be tried in absentia. The trial will begin on October 1.

Prosecutors argued that the defendants were responsible for the workers’ deaths because the factory outside Dhaka had no emergency exits and the main exit was locked when the fire broke out in November 2012.

The defence claimed that their clients were innocent as the fire was an accident.

Investigators found that when the fire broke out, managers and security guards told workers that it was part of a regular drill, delaying their possible escape.

Workers found the gates locked from the outside as the fire engulfed the sprawling building, according to the investigation.

The fire is one of several disasters that have exposed unsafe working conditions in Bangladesh’s garment industry.

The Rana Plaza factory collapse in April 2013 left more than 1,100 workers dead, triggering demands for safer
conditions.

international@peoples-press.com