A court in Bangladesh's capital indicted the two owners of a garment factory and 11 others on homicide charges Thursday for a 2012 fire that killed 112 workers.
 
It is the first time that factory owners have been prosecuted in Bangladesh's lucrative garment industry, the world's second largest after China.

Delwar Hossain and his wife Mahmuda Akter, the owners of Tazreen Fashions Ltd., pleaded not guilty to the charges. The factory produced clothing for large international retailers including Wal-Mart.

Prosecutor Mizanur Rahman said the judge also indicted 11 factory managers and security guards. Eight of the accused were present in court while five remain at large and will be tried in absentia. The trial will begin Oct. 1, Rahman said.

Prosecutors argued that the owners and the others were responsible for the deaths of the workers because the factory outside Dhaka had no emergency exits and the main exit was locked when the fire broke out in November 2012. The defendants' lawyer argued that the fire was an accident and that they should not be indicted.