100 hurt in another stampede

While the country has been reeling from the shock of Saturday's Ashulia fire, around 100 panic-stricken workers were injured in a stampede following a rumour of fire in two factories at Savar yesterday.
The rumour brewed when a fluorescent light sparked at the factory of Vision Apparels Ltd at Purba Rajeshwar area around 2:30pm.
Gripped by panic, workers on the first floor rushed downstairs injuring around 80 people in the stampede, said Abul Baten, deputy assistant director of Industrial Police (Savar Zone).
Shimul Saha, an official of Enam Medical College and Hospital said 63 of the injured were undergoing treatment at the hospital. Eight of them were in critical condition.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident at Hemayetpur, around 16 people were injured in a stampede at Crescent Leather, a shoe-manufacturing factory.
No casualty was reported in the incident, as the factory workers had managed to douse the fire with assistance from the locals by the time the fire fighters arrived.
The fire originated from a short circuit from an electric motor around 2:45pm on the ground floor of the three-storied factory building, said Fire Service and Civil Defence officials.
They injured were being treated at different hospitals and clinics, police said.