Triple explosions at Shia gathering in Old Dhaka leave one killed, nearly 80 wounded

At least one people has been killed and 75 wounded when three improvised explosive devices were detonated in the midst of a gathering of Shia Muslims outside Old Dhaka’s Hossaini Dalan.

The Shias were preparing for the trademark procession on Saturday on the occasion of Ashura when the bomb attack took place at around 2am, Chawk Bazar Police Station OC Aziz Ahmed told bdnews24.com.

RAB Additional Director General Ziaul Ahsan said these were hand-made bombs hurled at the gathering.

Chawk Bazar Police Station Sub-Inspector Jahangir Hossain said two suspects were arrested at the scene of the blasts.

The deceased, aged between 10 and 12 years, was identified as, ‘Sanju’, a police official told bdnews24.com at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on condition of anonymity.

DMCH police camp's Sub Inspector Mozammel Haque said at least 44 people wounded in the blasts were hospitalised.

Mitford Hospital’s emergency ward doctor Masudur Rahman said that 31 injured people came to the hospital and more were still coming in.

He said none of them was in critical condition.

The incident occurred at a time when police and other law-enforcing agencies strengthened security in Dhaka for Durga Puja that ended on Thursday and for Ashura.

A leader of the Shia community, Firoz Hasan, told bdnews24.com that there were 20,000 to 25,000 people in the crowd. 

“Police and RAB personnel checked the venue at the Hussaini Dalan before the procession. Then the explosions took place,” he said.

He said police took away two to three bomb-like objects from the Hussaini Dalan premises.

Shias in Dhaka also march in mourning processions on Ashura at Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Moghbazar and Paltan.

Police and RAB reinforcements have been deployed at Mohammadpur after the incident, Shia Mosque Committee President Rashed Haider told bdnews24.com.

A RAB official said a bomb was neutralised by exploding it on the spot at around 4:30am.

Hossaini Dalan or Imambarha is the venue for gatherings held during the Islamic month of Muharram to commemorate the death of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

He died in the seventh century battle of Karbala on the 10th of Muharram, which has fallen on Saturday this year.

Earlier in the day in Pakistan, a suicide bombing in a similar Shia procession killed at least 16.

On Thursday, Pakistan saw 10 killed in a bombing at a Shia mosque.