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Published July 11, 2021, 8:22 AM
DHAKA, Bangladesh – The owner of a factory where 52 people died in a fire was arrested for murder Saturday as it emerged that children as young as 11 had been working there. Police said Abul Hashem and four of his sons were among eight people detained over the inferno, which broke out Thursday and raged for more than a day. A separate inquiry has been launched into the use of child labour at the food factory. Jayedul Alam, police chief for Narayanganj district where the factory is located, said the entrance had been padlocked along with multiple other breaches of safety regulations.
A mother, Jamena, shows a photo of her missing son Naim, 17, at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, she fears he died in the Hashem Foods fire in the outskirts of Dhaka.
Photo: AFP
Abul Hashem, the owner of Hashem Foods, and four of his sons were among eight people detained on Saturday. Police say they all face murder charges.
Authorities said many of those who died were trapped inside the building because a main exit was locked.
Children were among the victims and a separate inquiry into the use of child labour has been launched.
Bangladesh labour minister Monnujan Sufian told AFP news agency that she had been to a hospital and spoken to survivors as young as 14.
A firefighter communicates with his colleagues on a walkie talkie inside the burnt food and beverage factory in Rupganj, outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, on July 9, 2021. (AP Photo)
DHAKA Police in Bangladesh arrested eight people Saturday on murder charges in connection with a factory fire that killed at least 52 people, many of whom were trapped inside by an illegally locked door, a senior police official said.
The blaze began Thursday night at the five-story Hashem Foods Ltd. factory in Rupganj, just outside the capital Dhaka, sending huge clouds of black smoke billowing into the sky. Police discovered piles of bodies Friday afternoon after the fire was extinguished.
In this file photo, firefighters work at the site of the fire that broke out on Thursday at Hashem Foods Ltd factory in Rupganj, Bangladesh. Reuters/File
DHAKA: The owner of a factory where 52 people died in a fire was arrested for murder on Saturday as it emerged that children as young as 11 had been working there.
Police said Abul Hashem and four of his sons were among eight people detained over the inferno, which broke out Thursday and raged for more than a day.
A separate inquiry has been launched into the use of child labour at the food factory.