Five killed in arson attack on bus in Rangpur

The death toll from the arson attack on a bus in Rangpur has gone up to five.

Four passengers including a child burned alive when the bus was set on fire on Rangpur-Dhaka highway in the district's Mithapukur by pro-blockade elements in the wee hours of Wednesday.

The fifth passenger died from burns around 11:15pm Wednesday at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).

Until Wednesday, at least 15 people have been killed in violence since BNP chief Khaleda Zia called the nonstop nationwide transport blockade from Jan 5.

Police said the Dhaka-bound bus was torched by blockade supporters in front of the Shapla Cold Storage at Mithapukur's Jaygirhat, leaving the four dead on the spot.

Two critically injured women sent to the DMCH for better treatment arrived at the hospital around 11pm. One of them, Tasiran Begum, 60, died from her severe burns around 15 minutes later, DMCH police outpost Inspector Mozammel Haque told bdnews24.com.

The other injured, Minara Begum, 23, is being treated at the hospital's burns unit.

Earlier, Mithapukur Police Station OC Rabiul Islam said they recovered charred bodies of a man, two women and a child in the bus.

He identified three of them as Rahim Badsha, 45, his mother Rahima Begum, 65, and Jasmine Aktar, 35. The child was yet to be identified, the OC added.

Nine more passengers who sustained various degrees of burns were admitted to Rangpur Medical College and Hospital.

Police on Wednesday evening filed a case against leaders and activists of Mithapukur units of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir over the arson attack.

Mithapukur Police Station SI Abdur Razzak said 80 Jamaat and Shibir supporters were named in the case along with 40 unidentified others.

He added that nine people detained during police raids were shown arrested in the case, but he declined to disclose their names for investigation.