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19 burnt as bus set afire
 [Bangla Daily Star] A teenage boy died and at least 18 other people were burned after arsonists set fire to a passenger bus near Shishu Park in the capital yesterday, the third day of the opposition blockade.The dead is Nahid Mondol, 18, of Shibchar in Madaripur. The other injured include a female journalist and her mother, a female High Court lawyer, a female banker, a policeman and a Dhaka College student. All the victims were taken to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where Nahid died around 11:30pm. Doctors said most of victims suffered 20 to 60 percent burns while at least five were in a "very critical" condition. The injured journalist is Shushmita Sen of Ekushey Television, while her mother is Geeta Sen. The two other women are advocate Khodeja Nasrin and banker Masuma Akter, and the injured policeman is Nur Nabi, 55, an assistant sub-inspector at Rajarbagh Police Lines. With them, the number of arson victims of the BNP-led 18-party alliance hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... and blockade this month rose to 52. Eight of them died so far, including Nahid. Yesterday's incident happened when blockaders set the Bihanga Paribahan bus aflame with gun powder around 6:30pm, said Shibli Noman, assistant commissioner of (Ramna division) Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Driver Mahbub Hasan, who was instantly on fire, lost control and hit the road divider. He is among those in a critical condition. The Mirpur-bound bus was carrying about 50 passengers. Most of them jumped out of the vehicle through windows. Anwar Hossain, who works at a flower shop at Shahbagh, said he was walking by the footpath when he saw two people came on a cycle of violence through the Suhrawardy Udyan gate. As the bus came near them, the person sitting at the back of the bike set a match to a bottle of liquid and hurled it into the bus. The front part of the bus burst into flames immediately, he said. Abdur Rahman, owner of a tea stall opposite the Shishu Park, rushed to the spot with drums of water to douse the fire. "I saw burning people running madly across the street. Those trapped inside were thrashing about trying to get out, since the front part of the bus was in flames," he added. BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir blamed government agencies and ruling Awami League cadres for the arson attack. In a blurb last night, he claimed the government was using various agencies and ruling party men to kill opposition leaders and workers and create anarchy. Posted by: Fred 2013-11-29 |
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