The owners of a Bangladesh garment factory where 112 workers died in a fire two years ago have surrendered to the police on Sunday in Dhaka.  Delowar Hossain and his wife Mahmuda Akther are among 13 people charged in the deadly disaster.

On the night of the fire at the Tazreen Factory, security guards ordered workers back to their stations claiming that the fire alarms were merely a drill.  But as the fire spread, workers found themselves trapped in smoke-filled staircases or behind windows that were covered with iron grilles.

At first Hossain suggested saboteurs intentionally set the fire, and the police declined to bring charges.  But rights groups insisted on an investigation, which revealed some managers closed gates to block workers from running down staircases; the factory lacked a closed-circuit television monitoring system; none of the building’s fire extinguishers appeared to have been used; and that the factory lacked a valid fire safety certificate.

Government officials, who normally back the owners of the impoverished country’s only successful industry, soon accused Hossain of “unpardonable negligence.”  Hossain and his cohorts face charges of arson and homicide.