Bangladesh factory owners to face homicide charges

A Bangladesh court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two garment factory owners and four of their employees on homicide charges for the deaths of 112 workers in a fire that engulfed the factory in 2012. Judge Wasim Sheikh issued the warrants for owner Delwar Hossain, his wife, Mahmuda Akter, and the others, AP quoted Prosecutor Anwarul Kabir Babul as saying. If the six are not found by Feb. 25 when the court sits, they could be tried in absentia for the charges connected with the fire that destroyed the Tazreen Fashions Ltd. factory in November 2012. A decision on when the trial would begin would be made after police inform the court on their attempts to find the six, Babul said. He said the accused face a minimum of seven years in prison up to life in prison if convicted of failing to ensure safety at the sprawling factory, located outside Dhaka, the capital.