At least 19 people have been injured, as suspected Opposition
activists torched a commuter bus at Shahbagh on the third day of the
71-hour nationwide blockade, police say.
The Mirpur-bound bus was set on fire in front of the Matsya Bhaban
around 6:30pm on Thursday, said Shahbagh Police Station Inspector MA
Jalil.
He said all the injured were taken to the Dhaka Medical College and
Hospital (DMCH).
DMCH burn unit doctors said some of the injured had suffered 90
percent burns and those with lesser wounds had 15 percent. The
condition of four of them was critical, they said.
The injured were identified as Rupali Bank official Masuma Aktar, 25,
First Security Islami Bank official Shafiqul Islam, 37, government
official Jahangir Hossain Mridha, 40, lawyer Khodeja Nasrin, 43,
police constable Nurunnabi, 45, Dhaka University political science
department student Ohidur Rahman Babu, 25, Ekushey TV’s ‘Mukto Khobor’
child journalist Susmita Sen, 17, her mother Gita Sen, 45.
Others injured were bus driver Md Mahbub Hossain, 27, his assistant
Hafizul Islam, 22, businessman Amzad Hossain, 40, ‘Shamim’, 24,
‘Riad’, 22, ‘Nahid’, ‘Robin’, Abdur Razzak and ‘Rahajul’.
The identities of two others were not yet known. Some other passengers
had received minor injuries. They left after being given first aid.
However, journalists were not allowed at the special care unit where
the injured are being treated.
Rupali Bank official Masuma told reporters the ‘Bihanga Paribahan’ bus
was on its way to Mirpur when it was set alight.
The passengers saw the bus was on fire when it reached the Matsya
Bhaban, triggering a frantic effort to get out.
The driver did not stop the bus but continued to run it until it had
reached Ramna Park’s ‘Astachal’ gate.
Police rushed there and took the injured to DMCH immediately, said
Shahbagh police Inspector Jalil.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Ramna division Deputy Commissioner Maruf
Sardar told reporters there, “Initial investigation has found that a
high-powered Molotov cocktail was hurled at the bus which ignited the
fire.”
Bangladesh Medical Association Secretary General Iqbal Arslan also
visited the injured at DMCH. “Conditions of four of the injured seem
to be very critical. But it’s also hard to determine the condition of
a burn patient at the initial stage,” he told reporters.
Eighteen people have reportedly died during the Opposition-sponsored
blockade until Thursday evening.
Hundreds of vehicles were set on fire and damaged.
The Opposition had given the call for a blockade on Monday in protest
against the schedule of the general election announced by the Election
Commission.
It has been pressing for a non-party polls-time government to oversee
the parliamentary elections.
A human hauler driver, injured in an arson in Dhaka, died in the early
hours of Thursday. On the same day, a female bank official also
succumbed to her injuries sustained in a bomb attack.
On Wednesday, nine people were injured in explosions at Chankharpul
and another at Tikatuli in Dhaka. – bdnews24.com
