A Bangladesh court has indicted 41 people for murder in the 2013 deaths
of more than 1,100 people in the collapse of a building that housed five
garment factories outside the capital.
District Judge S.M. Kuddus Zaman announced July 18 that the trial in the Rana Plaza collapse will begin on Sept. 18.
Masud
Rana, who owned the building outside Dhaka, and 33 other people pleaded
not guilty when the charges against them were read out in court.
Another seven are accused of absconding. If convicted, the defendants could face up to death penalty.
A police report submitted to the court called the deaths a “mass killing.”
Bangladesh
is one the world’s largest exporters of garments. It earns around $20
billion a year from exports, mainly to the United States and Europe.
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.