The owner of the eight-storey garment factory near Bangladesh‘s capital Dhaka that collapsed last week killing hundreds has been arrested, it has been announced.
Mohammed Sohel Rana had gone into hiding since the collapse of the building, which housed suppliers from British retailers including Primark and Mango, last Wednesday and was captured near the Indian border, according to BBC News.
Mokhlesur Rahman of the Rapid Action Battalion, the team which tracked down Rana, told the BBC after his capture: “He went into hiding in different areas and changed locations regularly.
“Besides Dhaka, he stayed in two or three districts outside of the city.
“He reached the border with India. There was a possibility that he could have managed to escape into India within a very short space of time.
“Based on a tip-off, we hurriedly flew to Jessore in a helicopter.
“He was arrested at the checkpoint at Benapole in Jessore.”
Rescue workers and family members of those still trapped in the factory were told of the arrest last night, cheering at the news despite fading hope of finding survivors in the wreckage after fire ripped through the site yesterday.
Rana is expected to be charged with negligence, along with two engineers who approved the site and fast fashion retailer Primark, which announced last week that it was “shocked and saddened” by the news, has pledged to improve building safety and ensure building integrity as part of a widespread review of factory practices.
Protesters descended on Primark‘s Oxford Street flagship at the weekend, calling on the retailer to sign the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement in a bid to improve working conditions.
