13 charged with negligence, murder over factory explosion in Bangladesh
July 5, 2017 | 05:44 PM
Bangladeshi firefighters take part in a search and rescue operation at a destroyed garment factory in Gazipur on Tuesday, after a boiler explosion at the complex on the outskirts of Dhaka. — AFP
July 5, 2017 | 05:44 PM
Last Updated: July 5, 2017 | 05:45 PM
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DHAKA — Police in Bangladesh have filed charges ranging from negligence to murder against more than a dozen people after a boiler explosion at a garment plant killed 13 people and injured dozens, officials said on Wednesday.
Monday’s blast happened during maintenance work at a factory owned by Multifabs Ltd, whose top buyers include fashion chain Lindex, which is part of Finland’s Stockmann, German supermarket chain Aldi, and Rexholm of Denmark.
Police have blamed the accident on three boiler operators killed in the explosion on the outskirts of Dhaka, the capital, and 10 unidentified people.
“They have been accused of negligence and murder as they continued to operate the boiler, ignoring safety concerns,” said Aminul Islam, chief of the police station investigating the incident.
Survivors found guilty could face punishments ranging from life imprisonment to the death penalty, authorities said.
Preliminary investigations showed the license for the boiler had expired on June 24, district administrator Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir said.
The company said it had applied to renew the license before the deadline, however.
“We applied to the authorities for renewal on June 15,” company chairman Mahiuddin Faruqui said. “There was no negligence on our side.”
Most of the plant’s 5,000 workers were off for the Eid holidays when the boiler exploded during maintenance work, causing a section of the six-story building to collapse.
A boiler warning light was flashing before the explosion, but the maintenance team ignored it, said one survivor, Harunur Rashid, a worker in the garment dyeing process.
“We heard strange sounds two or three times, but we were told it was nothing,” Rashid, hurt in the head and legs by the blast, said from his hospital bed. “Shortly after, it exploded.”
The blast happened when workers sought to restart the boiler after servicing, Faruqui said.
“We don’t know whether it gave any warnings or not,” he added.
It was the latest disaster to highlight the poor safety record of the country’s $30-billion garment industry, the second largest in the world.
The latest disaster came four years after the collapse of the nine-story Rana Plaza factory complex in April 2013 in which more than 1,100 people were killed.
In the wake of the disaster, authorities pledged to improve working conditions at factories, but accidents are still commonplace.
Only a few hundred of the country’s 4,500 textile factories have been certified as safe and last year a fire at a factory just miles from Rana Plaza claimed 34 lives. — Agencies
Monday’s blast happened during maintenance work at a factory owned by Multifabs Ltd, whose top buyers include fashion chain Lindex, which is part of Finland’s Stockmann, German supermarket chain Aldi, and Rexholm of Denmark.
Police have blamed the accident on three boiler operators killed in the explosion on the outskirts of Dhaka, the capital, and 10 unidentified people.
“They have been accused of negligence and murder as they continued to operate the boiler, ignoring safety concerns,” said Aminul Islam, chief of the police station investigating the incident.
Survivors found guilty could face punishments ranging from life imprisonment to the death penalty, authorities said.
Preliminary investigations showed the license for the boiler had expired on June 24, district administrator Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir said.
The company said it had applied to renew the license before the deadline, however.
“We applied to the authorities for renewal on June 15,” company chairman Mahiuddin Faruqui said. “There was no negligence on our side.”
Most of the plant’s 5,000 workers were off for the Eid holidays when the boiler exploded during maintenance work, causing a section of the six-story building to collapse.
A boiler warning light was flashing before the explosion, but the maintenance team ignored it, said one survivor, Harunur Rashid, a worker in the garment dyeing process.
“We heard strange sounds two or three times, but we were told it was nothing,” Rashid, hurt in the head and legs by the blast, said from his hospital bed. “Shortly after, it exploded.”
The blast happened when workers sought to restart the boiler after servicing, Faruqui said.
“We don’t know whether it gave any warnings or not,” he added.
It was the latest disaster to highlight the poor safety record of the country’s $30-billion garment industry, the second largest in the world.
The latest disaster came four years after the collapse of the nine-story Rana Plaza factory complex in April 2013 in which more than 1,100 people were killed.
In the wake of the disaster, authorities pledged to improve working conditions at factories, but accidents are still commonplace.
Only a few hundred of the country’s 4,500 textile factories have been certified as safe and last year a fire at a factory just miles from Rana Plaza claimed 34 lives. — Agencies
