Fire bomb attacks burn nine bus riders, two truckers in Bangladesh

Suspected anti-government demonstrators have fire-bombed a bus in Feni and a truck in Netrokona, leaving 11 people burnt.

Both arson attacks took place on Tuesday night amid the ongoing nationwide transport blockade and shutdown called by the BNP and its allies.

Nine people were burnt when a bus caught fire after assailants hurled petrol bombs at it at Feni’s Dagonbhuiyan Upazila.

The bus was crossing the Upazila’s Amirgaon area when it came under the attack around 9:30pm.

Locals rushed the injured to the Feni Sadar Hospital around 10pm, resident doctor Asim Kumar Saha told bdnews24.com.

He said two of the injured were later sent to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital in critical condition.

Quoting Mohsena Khatun, one of injured, her son ‘Kashem’ told bdnews24.com the attackers had thrown two petrol bombs on the Noakhali’s Basurhat-bound bus.

In Netrokona, two truckers were burned when pro-blockade elements threw petrol bombs at their truck in Durgapur Upazila’s Birisiri area.

The incident took place around 9:45pm Tuesday, police said.

Locals took the Mymensingh-bound truck’s driver and his assistant to the Upazila Health Complex with burn injuries, Durgapur Police Station OC Rezaul Karim Khan told bdnews24.com.

The driver had lost control and the truck crashed beside the road, he added.

Upazila Health Complex’s Dr Anwarul Amin told bdnews24.com that the driver suffered 15 percent burns while his assistant suffered 10 percent.

Both were given first aid and sent to the Mymensingh Medical College and Hospital for better treatment, Amin added.

More than 60 people have died in acts of arson, vandalism and firebombing around Bangladesh since Jan 5, the day the non-stop blockade started.

More than hundred burned and injured are undergoing treatment in hospitals across the country.