Disasters & Accidents

Wait for justice in Bangladesh’s deadliest building collapse gets longer

Dhaka, Feb 16 (EFE).- The wait for justice for the relatives of the hundreds of garment workers, who died in a sudden building collapse nine years ago, got longer after a court deferred the murder trial against its builders on Wednesday.

The Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh’s industrial town Savar near capital Dhaka collapsed in the blink of an eye on Apr.24, 2013, killing around 1,130 workers and leaving more than 2,500 wounded.

The court resumed the murder trial in late January and was on Wednesday set to begin recording the testimony of witnesses against the owner, Sohel Rana, and 35 others.

“We waited for an hour today. But the court decided to postpone (the hearing), as the main accused, Rana, could not be taken to court from jail. We were told that a fresh date would be announced soon,” said defense lawyer Rezaul Karim.

The trial resumed in late January, five years after a court framed the charges against the defendants in September 2016.

The collapse of the building, which housed five garment companies that produced clothes for about 30 international companies, marked the worst catastrophe in the history of the Bangladesh textile sector.

Authorities took three weeks to remove debris and corpses after the building collapsed.

Rana was arrested several days after the tragedy as he tried to flee to neighboring India.

He is one of the 41 people accused of causing the deaths.

Three of the accused, including Rana’s father, died during the legal process.

The court has also halted proceedings against two other accused.

Textile accounted for nearly 82 percent of Bangladesh’s $38 billion exports in 2020-21. EFE

am/ssk

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