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| Mohammed Sohel Rana, the fugitive owner of an illegally-constructed building that collapsed last week in Bangladesh, killing some 377 people, is paraded by Rapid Action Battalion commandoes for the media along with unidentified alleged accomplices, not pictured, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, April 28, 2013. Rana was arrested near the land border in Benapole in western Bangladesh, just as he was about to flee into India's West Bengal state, said Jahangir Kabir Nanak, junior minister for local government. |
SAVAR, Bangladesh
(AP) -- The fugitive owner of an illegally constructed building
that collapsed and killed at least 377 people was captured Sunday by a
commando force as he tried to flee into India. At the disaster site,
meanwhile, fire broke out in the wreckage and forced authorities to
suspend the search for survivors temporarily.
Mohammed
Sohel Rana was arrested in the western Bangladesh border town of
Benapole, said Jahangir Kabir Nanak, junior minister for local
government. Rana was brought back by helicopter to the capital of Dhaka
where he faced charges of negligence.
Rana's
capture was announced by loudspeaker at the disaster site, drawing
cheers and applause from those awaiting the outcome of a continuing
search-and-rescue operation for survivors of Wednesday's collapse.
Many
of those killed were workers at clothing factories in the building,
known as the Rana Plaza, and the collapse was the deadliest disaster to
hit the garment industry in Bangladesh that is worth $20 billion
annually and is a mainstay of the economy.
The
fire that broke out late Sunday night sent smoke pouring from the piles
of shattered concrete and halted some of the rescue efforts - including
a bid to free a woman who was found trapped in the rubble.
The
blaze was caused by sparks as rescuers tried to cut through a steel rod
to reach the woman, said a volunteer, Syed Al-Amin Roman. At least
three rescuers were injured in the fire, he said. It forced them to
retreat while firefighters frantically hosed down the flames.
Officials
believe the fire is likely to have killed the trapped woman, said army
spokesman Shahinul Islam. Rescue workers had delayed the use of heavy
equipment for several hours in the hope that she could be extricated
from the rubble first. But with the woman presumed dead, they began
using heavy equipment around midnight.
An
exhausted and disheveled Rana was brought before reporters briefly at
the Dhaka headquarters of the commando team, the Rapid Action Battalion.
Wearing
a printed shirt, Rana was sweating as two security officers held him by
his arms. A security official helped him to drink water after he
gestured he was thirsty. He did not speak during the 10-minute
appearance, and he is likely to be handed over to police, who will have
to charge him and produce him in court within 24 hours.
A
small-time politician from the ruling Awami League party, Rana had been
on the run since the building collapsed Wednesday. He last appeared in
public Tuesday in front of the Rana Plaza after huge cracks appeared in
the building. Witnesses said he assured tenants, including five garment
factories, that the building was safe.
A bank
and some shops on the first floor closed Wednesday after police ordered
an evacuation, but managers of the garment factories on the upper floor
told workers to continue their shifts.
Hours later, the Rana Plaza was reduced to rubble, crushing most victims under massive blocks of concrete.
Rana's arrest was ordered by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the Awami League leader.
On
Saturday, police arrested three owners of two factories. Also detained
were Rana's wife and two government engineers who were involved in
giving approval for the building design. Local TV stations reported that
the Bangladesh High Court has frozen the bank accounts of the owners of
all five garment factories in the Rana Plaza.
Three floors of the eight-story building apparently were built illegally.
A
garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building
employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside when
it fell. About 2,500 survivors have been accounted for.
Army
Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy, the coordinator of the rescue
operations, said the next phase of the search involved the heavy
equipment such as hydraulic cranes that were brought to the disaster
site Sunday. Searchers had been manually shifting concrete blocks with
the help of light equipment such as pickaxes and shovels, he said.
The
work will be carried out carefully so as not to mutilate bodies, he
said. "We have engaged many private sector companies which supplied us
equipment, even some heavy ones," Suhrawardy said.
In
a rare bit of good news, a female worker was pulled out alive Sunday.
Rescuer Hasan Akbari said when he tried to extricate a man next to the
woman, "he said his body was being torn apart. So I had to let go. But
God willing, we will be able to rescue him with more help very soon."
The
collapse and previous disasters in garment factories have focused
attention on the poor working conditions of workers who toil for as
little as $38 a month to produce clothing for top international brands.
The
death toll surpassed a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and
brought widespread pledges to improve worker-safety standards. But since
then, very little has changed in Bangladesh.
Its garment industry was the third-largest in the world in 2011, after China and Italy, having grown rapidly in the past decade.
Among
the garment makers in the building were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac,
Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms. Altogether, they
produced several million shirts, pants and other garments a year.
The New Wave companies, according to their website, make clothing for several major North American and European retailers.
Britain's
Primark acknowledged it was using a factory in Rana Plaza, but many
other retailers distanced themselves from the disaster, saying they were
not involved with the factories at the time of the collapse or had not
recently ordered garments from them.
Wal-Mart
said none of its clothing had been authorized to be made in the
facility, but it is investigating whether there was any unauthorized
production.
