Bangladesh Factory Owner Arrested After 52 People Die in Massive Fire

Bangladesh police on Saturday arrested for murder the owner of a factory where 52 people died in a massive fire, as it emerged that children as young as 11 had been working there.

Police said the owner of the food factory and four of his sons were among eight people detained over the fire that broke out Thursday and raged for more than a day.

A separate inquiry has been launched into the use of child labour at the facility.

Jayedul Alam, police chief for Narayanganj district where the factory is located, said the entrance had been padlocked at the time of the blaze and the factory breached multiple fire and safety regulations.

“It was a deliberate murder,” the police chief told AFP.

Emergency services found 48 of the bodies on the third floor of the Hashem Food and Beverage factory in Rupganj, an industrial town outside Dhaka.

A fire services spokesman said the exit door to the main staircase had been padlocked. Highly flammable chemicals and plastics had also been stored in the…