A court in Bangladesh's capital has accepted murder charges against 41 people in relation to the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza building that highlighted grim conditions in the country's garment industry.
More than 1100 people, mostly garment factory workers, died when the illegally built complex collapsed in Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster.
The court of Senior Judicial Magistrate Md Al-Amin decided to go ahead with the trial after accepting the murder charges filed by police in June.
Investigators initially said the accused would be charged with culpable homicide, but they shifted to the more severe charges after the investigation found that building owner Sohel Rana, his staff and the management of the five garment factories had forced workers to enter the building just before it collapsed, even though the workers feared doing so because major cracks had developed in the structure a day earlier.
The maximum penalty for someone convicted of murder is a death sentence, while the maximum punishment for culpable homicide is seven years in jail.
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The police report called the deaths a "mass killing". About 2500 people were injured in the disaster.
Rana and the owners of the five garment factories are among the 41 defendants accused of murder.
While Rana is in jail and 16 others are on bail, the magistrate issued arrest warrants against 24 others, said police prosecution wing officer Mohammad Asaduzzaman.
He said the police would take steps to arrest them.
