RANA PLAZA COLLAPSE:
MURDER CHARGES FILED
Authorities in Bangladesh have filed murder
charges against dozens of people for their roles
in the 2013 collapse of a garment factory building
that killed more than 1,100 people.
Kar, who submitted the charges to a court in Dhaka,
Bangladesh’s capital, said a hearing would take place 28 June to
decide on further proceedings.
In a separate case, the accused will also face charges of
violating safety rules in Rana Plaza because 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. `
T
he charges were filed against 41 people, including the
building’s owner, Sohel Rana, his parents, and more than
a dozen government officials, for their direct role in the
deaths, said the lead investigator, Bijoy Krishna Kar of the Criminal
Investigation Department.
Investigators initially had said the accused, who also include the
owners of the five factories in the building, would be charged with
culpable homicide, but they later changed their plans due to the
gravity of the accident, Bangladesh’s worst industrial disaster.
Investigators said the shift from the culpable homicide charges
came after the investigation found that Rana, his staff and the
management of the five factories had forced the workers to enter
the building despite their unwillingness to