Owner, Managers Charged in Deadly Dhaka Garment Factory Blaze

Dhaka -- A Bangladeshi court on Thursday indicted the owners and managers of a garment factory in connection with a fire that killed 112 people in 2012, officials said.  

The judge in Dhaka passed the indictment order against the owners, Delawar Hossain and his wife Mahmuda Akter, and 11 managers of the Tazreen Fashion Factory that produced clothing for Western retailers.

The court fixed October 1 for the start of their trial on charges of culpable homicide, prosecution lawyer Mizanur Rahman said.

They face a maximum sentence of life in jail.

All of the accused have pleaded not guilty.

The fire gutted the factory in the Ashulia industrial district near Dhaka on November 24, 2012.

More than 200 people were injured in the blaze.

Survivors alleged that the main exits were locked and they were not allowed to leave when the fire broke out at the factory, which produced clothing for global brands.

Bangladesh, the world's second-largest apparel producer after China, came under criticism over poor safety standards at factories after the fire and the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza building, which housed garment factories. That collapse killed more than 1,100 people.

The apparel industry contributes nearly 80 per cent of Bangladesh's export earnings. 

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