Karachi blaze: Court grants bail to factory owners

Pakistan

Karachi blaze: Court grants bail to factory owners

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The factory owners cannot be arrested for eight days under bail terms.

14 September,2012 02:49 pm

A judge of Sindh High Court’s Larkana bench has granted bail to three owners of a garment factory in the southern city of Karachi where a fire this week killed 258 people, a defense lawyer said Friday.Amir Mansoob Qureshi said the judge instructed the police that the factory owners cannot be arrested for eight days under bail terms.The court also asked the owners to surrender their passports and ordered them not to leave the country, the lawyer said.Police have opened a murder case and are investigating whether possible negligence by the owners and managers of the garment factory led to the massive loss of life.The fire that broke out Tuesday night was the deadliest industrial accident in Pakistans 65-year history, and highlighted the woeful safety conditions that exist at many factories around the country.People caught in the basement suffocated when it filled with smoke while those on the higher floors were forced to break through metal bars over the windows and jump for their lives to the ground below.Panicked workers had only one way out since the factorys owner had locked all the other exit doors in response to a recent theft.The fire started when a boiler exploded and the flames ignited chemicals that were stored in the factory, which manufactured jeans and other clothes for export.