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A senior police officer said that the Bangladeshi police arrested 8 people on Saturday for murder and they were connected to a factory fire that killed at least 52 people, many of whom were trapped in illegally locked doors.
The fire started on Thursday night At the Hashem Foods Ltd. plant in Rupganj, Outside the capital Dhaka, huge black smoke billowed into the sky. After the fire was extinguished on Friday afternoon, police found piles of bodies.
“We arrested them on charges of murder,” Narayanganj District Police Chief Jayedur Alam told The Associated Press by phone. “They are now under our supervision.”
Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said that the detainees included the managing director of the Sajeeb Group, which owns the factory.
The minister did not provide further details, but said that the perpetrators will be severely punished.
“This is a murder,” Khan told reporters when he visited the factory site on Saturday.
Watch | At least 52 people died in a factory fire:
Fire officials said a fire engulfed a food and beverage factory on the outskirts of the capital of Bangladesh, killing at least 52 people, many of whom were trapped in illegally locked doors. 2:45
Suspect detained
By Saturday night, a court in Dhaka allowed all eight suspects to be detained by the police for four days for interrogation.
The tragic history of industrial disasters in Bangladesh, including factories on fire, and workers locked in.
Large international brands that employ tens of thousands of low-paid workers in Bangladesh are under tremendous pressure to improve factory conditions.
In a similar situation, the factory owner faces charges of homicide due to negligence. It is illegal for the factory to lock the exit while the worker is inside during production hours.
Family seeks to identify loved ones
A fire and civil defense official said the main exit of the factory that caught fire on Thursday was locked from the inside. Many of the dead are trapped.
One of them was Rima Akter, 23, who called her family in despair when the fire engulfed the factory.
Her mother and other family members struggled to find the body of the young woman in the hospital morgue on Saturday.
“We have checked 36 body bags, but it is difficult to determine her identity,” said her brother-in-law Arafat Rahman.
Akter’s mother Josna Begum cried because officials tried to assure several families waiting outside the hospital that once the DNA test was completed, the bodies of their loved ones would be returned.
“My daughter works to pay for her education. She is taking online courses and exams. I have no one else in the world… What else can I do now?” Begum said.
On Saturday, Kompa Rani Barman’s father, Prova Barman, who was killed in the fire, was interviewed by reporters in front of the factory.
“My daughter’s body was found here. She is on the third floor. During the fire, the supervisor locked many girls there, including my daughter,” he said. “After the door was locked, many girls couldn’t escape.”
According to a report by the Bangladesh Union News Agency on Friday, other workers jumped from the stairs and at least 26 people were injured.
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