7 killed in yet another mindless arson in Comilla

A vehicle tows the damaged bus of Icon Paribahan that had been set afire by miscreants Dhaka-Chittagong highway at Chauddagram upazila in Comilla early Tuesday. At least seven passengers were burnt to death in the incident. Photo Courtesy: Prothom Alo

In another mindless arson attack, at least seven people were killed and 16 burnt after miscreants petrol-bombed a bus on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Chouddagram upazila of Comilla early today.

• Five males and two females burnt dead on the spot
• Six admitted to DMCH, two of them critical
• Death toll in political violence climbs to 48
• Railway minister visits spot, bounty declared for arsonists

Among the dead, six people were primarily identified by the police.

They were Asma Begum and her son Shanto, from Narsingdi, Nuruzzaman Paplu and his daughter Maysha Taslim, a ninth grader of Jessore police line school, Abu Eusuf and Abu Taher, from Cox’s Bazar, And Wsim from Dhaka’s Kaptanbazar.

Unknown assailants fire-bombed the Dhaka-bound bus of Icon Paribahan from Cox’s Bazar in Jagamohanpur area around 3:30am, our Daudkandi correspondent reports quoting Monir Hossain, assistant director of Comilla Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Seven passengers died on the spot while 16 others suffered burn injuries, he added.

The injured were whisked off to Chouddagram Upazila Health Complex from where they were shifted Comilla Medical College and Hospital (CMCH).

Later, ten of the injured victims were referred to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Six of the victims were taken in today at the burn unit, said Dr Samanta Lal Sen, project director of Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of DMCH. “Two are in critical condition.”

The critically burned victims were Rashedul, 25, with 40 percent flesh burn and Shahidul, 18, with 28 percent burns, the burn unit official said in a press briefing at DMCH.

The death toll in political violence climbed to 48 with the latest arson of today. At least 33 people among the victims dead so far were innocents without reported ties to politics.

Dr Samanta Lal Sen said 61 burn victims of latest arson attacks, who were casualties of the political violence that started from this year, were attending treatments at DMCH.

Railway Minister Mujibul Haque visited the accident spot in the afternoon.  Later the minister attended a protest rally there, near the site of the arson, a correspondent reports.

At the rally there, Tutul Chakraborty, police superintendent of Comilla, declared a Tk 1 lakh reward on capture or assistance in capture of the responsible arsonists.

The petrol bomb attack took place on the 29th day of the countrywide nonstop blockade and the third day of 72-hour hartal (shutdown) enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.