11th anniversary of Rana Plaza tragedy today

Today is the 11th anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse, the worst-ever tragedy in the country's multi-billion dollar ready-made garment (RMG) industry. 

A total of 1, 138 people were killed in the collapse of Rana Plaza, a 10-story building adjacent to Savar bus stand, on April 24, 2013. From the rubble, 2,438 were rescued, and many of them became physically handicapped. 

On April 29, five days after the incident, Rana Plaza owner Sohel Rana was arrested from Benapole in Jessore while fleeing to India.

However, the cases filed after the matter still remain unsolved. 

The police filed a murder case on the charges of death by negligence in the incident. The capital development authority RAJUK filed another case for violating the Building Construction Act. 

After the investigation, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) wing of the police submitted charge sheets on June 1, 2025. 41 people including Sohel Rana, his parents, as well the Savar's mayor and commissioner were named in the charge sheet for the murder case. Meanwhile, 17 people including Sohel Rana were named in the charge sheet for a case for violating the Building Construction Act. However, three of the accused have already died. 

Among those accused in the murder case, only Sohel Rana remains jailed. The proceedings of the case were halted as per the High Court's directive for nearly six years. Now the court is holding hearings for the 594 witnesses. According to sources at the court, a verdict in the case may be issued this year if all the hearings can be concluded soon. 

Meanwhile, the case for violating the Building Construction Act has been halted as per the High Court's directive, so even after eight years, no hearing has been held for the case.