Pakistani Court Rules Deadly 2012 Blaze Was Arson, Sentences 2 to Death

Pakistani Court Rules Deadly 2012 Blaze Was Arson, Sentences 2 to Death
Ambulances and fire brigade vehicles outside a building after a fire at a garment factory in Karachi, Pakistan, on Sept. 12, 2012. Akhtar Soomro/File Photo/Reuters
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KARACHI, Pakistan—Pakistan’s deadliest industrial fire, which killed more than 260 garment factory workers in 2012, was a case of arson and not an accident, a court ruled on Tuesday as it sentenced two former political party activists to death for starting it.

The Anti-Terrorism Court found that the men set the factory ablaze because the owners did not give in to their extortion demands and pay them money.