Owner of collapsed building to be questioned

SAVAR, (AP):

A Bangladesh court yesterday gave police 15 days to interrogate the owner of a building that collapsed last week, killing at least 382 people, as rescuers used heavy machinery to cut through the destroyed structure after giving up hopes of finding any more survivors.

Mohammed Sohel Rana, who was arrested on Sunday, as he attempted to flee to India, has been held for questioning on charges of negligence, illegal construction and forcing workers to join work. His father, Abdul Khaleque, was also arrested on suspicion of aiding Rana to force people to work in a dangerous building.

The illegally constructed, eight-story Rana Plaza collapsed in a heap last Wednesday morning as thousands of people worked inside in five garment factories. About 2,500 survivors have been accounted for.

Rana was brought to the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in a bullet-proof vest, and led away to an unknown detention place after the magistrate granted a police request to hold him longer before filing formal charges. The crimes he is accused of carry a maximum punishment of seven years. More charges could be added later.

The collapse was the deadliest disaster to hit Bangladesh's garment industry, which is worth US$20 billion annually and supplies global retailers.

Full Caption: Mohammed Sohel Rana, centre right, the fugitive owner of an illegally constructed building that collapsed last week in Bangladesh, killing some 382 people, is paraded by Rapid Action Battalion commandos for the media along with an unidentified alleged accomplice, seen at left, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, April 28. 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.