Bangladesh court issues arrest warrants against garment factory owners on homicide charges

A Bangladesh court has issued arrest warrants for two owners of a garment factory and four of their employees on homicide charges for the deaths of 112 workers in a fire that engulfed the factory in 2012.

Prosecutor Anwarul Kabir Babul said that Judge Wasim Sheikh issued the arrest warrants Tuesday for the six, including owners Delwar Hossain and his wife, Mahmuda Akter.

Police said the six have fled and it is not known where they are. If they 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 factory in November 2012.

It was the first time Bangladeshi authorities had sought to prosecute factory owners in the country's lucrative garment industry.