13 charged over deadly garment factory fire in Bangladesh

Thirteen people, including the owners, were today charged after a year-long probe into Bangladesh's deadliest garment factory fire that killed 111 people.
Police filed charges of culpable homicide against the owners, Delwar Hossain and his wife Mahmuda Akhter, along with managers and security guards of the Tazreen factory in Ashulia which was gutted on November 24, 2012, killing at least 111 and injuring over 200 others.
The chargesheet said that the accused did not allow workers to get out of the factory dismissing the fire alarm as a drill procedures, Additional Public Prosecutor Anwarul Kabir Babul was quoted by the Dhaka Tribune as saying.

The factory, on the outskirts of Dhaka, supplied clothes to a variety of international brands including US giant Walmart, Dutch retailer C&A and ENYCE, a label owned by US rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Among the 13 accused, six members of the factory's top brass, including the owners, are currently on the run. One of the accused is in custody and the others are out in bail.
The pre-fixed hearing date for this case has been set on December 31.

The fire was the country's deadliest ever industrial mishap until the Rana Plaza garment factory complex collapsed just months later, killing at least 1,135 people

Bangladesh's garment industry is worth more than USD 20 billion, second only to China, but is often in international spotlight due to poor safety conditions.
Bangladesh has pledged to clean up the industry after the Rana Plaza disaster in April and more than 100 top Western retailers have agreed on new safety measures to allow greater scrutiny of their operations.