A Bangladesh court yesterday formally charged 38 people with murder over the 2013 collapse of a garment factory that killed more than 1,100 people, one of the world’s worst industrial disasters.
The 38 defendants are the first to go on trial for the disaster at the Rana Plaza compound, which highlighted appalling safety standards in Bangladesh’s $28bn garment export industry, the world’s second largest after China.
“In all 41 people were charged. Among them 38, were indicted with murder and the other three for helping the main criminal, Sohel Rana, to escape,” prosecutor Abdul Mannan said after the trial opened in a Dhaka court.
If convicted of murder the defendants, who include the owners of the building and of factories housed inside, face the death penalty.
At least 1,138 people died in the tragedy. Rescuers struggled for weeks to retrieve the bodies from the ruins but some people are still unaccounted for.
The disaster triggered demands for Western retailers to help introduce sweeping reforms including new safety inspections and higher wages in the industry, which employs around four million workers.
A host of Western retailers had clothing made at the factories housed at Rana Plaza, including Italy’s Benetton, Spain’s Mango and the British low-cost chain Primark.
Defence lawyers have said their clients are not guilty of the charges because they did not intend to kill the victims.
“I’ve said my clients including the owner of the building, Sohel Rana and his parents, were charged with murder just to appease the people,” Masum Iqbal, who represented eight of those indicted, said.
“They did not commit any murder.”
Last month the Dhaka court ordered the trial of 18 people including Rana and his parents, for flouting construction laws.
Rana became Bangladesh’s public enemy number one in 2013 after survivors recounted how they were forced to start work despite complaints of cracks appearing in the walls the previous day.
Prosecutors say he and his parents illegally extended a six-storey building into a 10-storey factory complex without making the necessary structural changes.
In all 34 defendants appeared in court on Monday. The other seven are still on 
the run.