Pakistani court rules deadly 2012 blaze was arson, sentences two to death

Pakistan's deadliest industrial fire, which killed over 260 factory workers in 2012, was a case of arson and not an accident, a court ruled on Tuesday, as it sentenced two men to death who were previously affiliated with a political party currently part of the ruling government coalition.

The Anti-Terrorism Court found that the men set the building ablaze because of a non-payment of extortion money by the garment factory owners. The blaze in Ali Enterprise, a multi-story unit for readymade garments manufacturing in the southern city of Karachi, sent shockwaves through the country as survivors told stories of people trapped in the factory because the building's doors were locked.