Bangladesh authorities filed murder charges against 41 people on Monday for their roles in the April 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory complex. The collapse killed more than 1,100 people and injured 2,500 in the worst industrial disaster the country has ever faced.
Rana Plaza's owner, Sohel Rana, his parents and more than a dozen government officials were among those charged for neglecting warnings not to allow workers into the building, which showed cracks in the structure the day before it collapsed.
Investigators said Rana, his staff and the management of the complex's five factories allegedly forced unwilling workers to enter the building, prompting authorities to shift the charges from culpable homicide to murder.
If convicted of murder, the defendants could face the death penalty, the Associated Press reported.
"It was a mass killing," lead investigator Bijoy Krishna Kar told AFP. "All 41 of those charged have a collective responsibility for the tragedy."
In a separate case, the accused will also face charges of violating safety rules in building Rana Plaza because additional floors were added to the original five-story building, which was basically meant for office and shopping malls. Later, illegally built upper floors were transformed into factories.
Rana was arrested days after the disaster occurred, during his attempt to flee to India.
Monday's formal charges are significant due to the fact that garment factory owners often enjoy impunity in Bangladesh because of the industry's power, according to
The building collapse immediately sparked an international movement to reform poor working conditions and increase low wages in the world's second-largest garment industry, through which Bangladesh earns more than $20 billion per year from exports, primarily in the U.S. and Europe.
Initiatives like Fashion Revolution Day continue to call on global brands and retailers, many of which outsource from Bangladesh for its low-cost labor, to increase their transparency and accountability in order to protect the rights -- and lives -- of workers.