Arrests over factory collapse as survivors still pulled from ruins
Source: Agencies |
April 28, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
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TWO factory bosses and two engineers were arrested in Bangladesh yesterday, three days after the collapse of a building where low-cost garments were made for Western brands.
The death toll rose to 352 but many were still being found alive. As many as 900 people could still be missing, police said.
The owner of the eight-story building, in which 3,000 people were working when it collapsed, was still on the run.
Police said several of his relatives were detained to compel him to hand himself in, and an alert had gone out to airport and border authorities.
Officials said Rana Plaza, on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, had been built without the correct permits, and the workers were allowed in on Wednesday, despite warnings the previous day that it was structurally unsafe.
Two engineers involved in building the complex were also arrested at their homes early yesterday, Dhaka district police chief Habibur Rahman said.
He said they were arrested for dismissing a warning not to open the building after a jolt was felt and cracks were noticed on some pillars the previous day.
The owner and managing director of the largest of the five factories in the complex, New Wave Style, surrendered to the country's garment industry association during the night and were handed over to police.
The factory, which listed many European and North American retailers as its customers, occupied upper floors of the building that officials said had been added illegally.
"Everyone involved will be arrested for putting up this defective building," said junior internal affairs minister Shamsul Huq.
An alliance of leftist parties which is part of the ruling coalition said it would call a national strike on Thursday if all those responsible for the disaster were not arrested by today.
Rahman identified the building owner as Mohammed Sohel Rana, a leader of the ruling Awami League's youth front.
"People are asking for his head, which is quite natural," said HT Imam, an adviser to the prime minister.
Wednesday's collapse was the third major industrial incident in five months in Bangladesh, the second-largest exporter of garments in the world.
Anger over the working conditions of Bangladesh's 3.6 million garment workers - most of whom are women - has grown since the disaster, triggering protests.
Hundreds were on the streets again yesterday, smashing and burning cars and sparking more battles with police, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Eyewitnesses said dozens of people were injured in the latest clashes.
Remarkably, people were still being pulled alive from the precarious mound of rubble - 29 in all since dawn yesterday.
"We must salute the common people who dared to enter the wreckage to rescue them, as even our professionals didn't dare to take the risk," Mizanur Rahman, deputy director of the fire service, said.
The death toll rose to 352 but many were still being found alive. As many as 900 people could still be missing, police said.
The owner of the eight-story building, in which 3,000 people were working when it collapsed, was still on the run.
Police said several of his relatives were detained to compel him to hand himself in, and an alert had gone out to airport and border authorities.
Officials said Rana Plaza, on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, had been built without the correct permits, and the workers were allowed in on Wednesday, despite warnings the previous day that it was structurally unsafe.
Two engineers involved in building the complex were also arrested at their homes early yesterday, Dhaka district police chief Habibur Rahman said.
He said they were arrested for dismissing a warning not to open the building after a jolt was felt and cracks were noticed on some pillars the previous day.
The owner and managing director of the largest of the five factories in the complex, New Wave Style, surrendered to the country's garment industry association during the night and were handed over to police.
The factory, which listed many European and North American retailers as its customers, occupied upper floors of the building that officials said had been added illegally.
"Everyone involved will be arrested for putting up this defective building," said junior internal affairs minister Shamsul Huq.
An alliance of leftist parties which is part of the ruling coalition said it would call a national strike on Thursday if all those responsible for the disaster were not arrested by today.
Rahman identified the building owner as Mohammed Sohel Rana, a leader of the ruling Awami League's youth front.
"People are asking for his head, which is quite natural," said HT Imam, an adviser to the prime minister.
Wednesday's collapse was the third major industrial incident in five months in Bangladesh, the second-largest exporter of garments in the world.
Anger over the working conditions of Bangladesh's 3.6 million garment workers - most of whom are women - has grown since the disaster, triggering protests.
Hundreds were on the streets again yesterday, smashing and burning cars and sparking more battles with police, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Eyewitnesses said dozens of people were injured in the latest clashes.
Remarkably, people were still being pulled alive from the precarious mound of rubble - 29 in all since dawn yesterday.
"We must salute the common people who dared to enter the wreckage to rescue them, as even our professionals didn't dare to take the risk," Mizanur Rahman, deputy director of the fire service, said.
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