Owner of collapsed Bangladesh factory faces murder charges

 

Dhaka: The owner of a nine-storey building that collapsed and killed 1,135 Bangladeshi garment workers in April last year is to face murder charges, police said on Tuesday.

 

Sohel Rana, owner of the Rana Plaza factory complex on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, was one of around 40 people who would be charged in connection with the disaster, said lead investigator Bijoy Krishna Kar.

 

“We are planning to press murder charges against Sohel Rana and some other accused,” Mr Kar told AFP, adding that if convicted, Rana could be sentenced to death.

 

It was the first time police have said they would file murder charges against Rana, who was arrested on the western border with India as he tried to flee the country days after the April 24 disaster.