Fleeing Owner of Collapsed Bangladesh Factory Busted

The owner of a building that collapsed last week in a deadly heap in a Dhaka suburb was arrested at a border crossing with India today in a dramatic operation by members of an elite commando force, a government minister said. A fleeing Mohammed Sohel Rana was arrested near the land-crossing in western Bangladesh, just as he was about to cross into India's West Bengal state, said the official. He said Rana is being brought back by helicopter to the capital Dhaka, where he faces charges of negligence.

The arrest by the Rapid Action Battalion was announced on a loudspeaker at the site of the collapsed building in Dhaka, where people greeted it with cheers and clapping. Rana, a small-time politician from the ruling party, had been on the run since Wednesday. At least 362 people are confirmed to have died in the collapse of the eight-story building on Wednesday; nine more were found alive inside the rubble today. Authorities announced they will now use heavy equipment to drill a central hole from the top to look for survivors and dead bodies. (More Bangladesh stories.)