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The drone strikes a tin roof at the Ijtema grounds, causing a loud, jarring noise
Published : 02 Feb 2025, 05:26 PM
Nearly 50 people have been injured in a stampede after a drone plummeted to the ground with a resounding crash during the concluding prayers of Biswa Ijtema.
On Sunday morning, at least 41 of the injured were rushed to Tongi Shaheed Ahsan Ullah Master General Hospital, where they received primary treatment.
Md Mostafizur Rahman, a doctor of the hospital’s emergency department, said: “As far as I know, a drone used by a journalist to capture the Ijtema Maidan prayer crashed into the ground. Many people were injured while running away in panic.”
The incident occurred around 9:25am during the final prayers when the drone struck the tin roof on the east side of the foreign residence at Ijtema grounds, causing a loud, jarring noise.
The ensuing panic, fuelled by the sudden commotion, led to the stampede that left dozens injured.
Md Hasan, who was present at the scene, said: “Maulana Mohammad Zubair was leading the final prayer. A few minutes before the prayer concluded, something fell from above.”
“Suddenly, there was a loud noise. Unable to understand anything, the people panicked and started running. Later, while searching for the source of the noise, it was found that a drone had landed on the tin roof.”
Mohammad Mehedi Hasan, Assistant Commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan Police’s Tongi Zone, said that police personnel arrived at the scene after receiving reports of the incident.
“But someone had already taken the drone before police arrived. We are trying to determine how it landed there and who took it,” he said.
“We have learned that the drone does not belong to police or any other law-enforcing agency. We are investigating the incident.”
Md Faridul Islam, chief of Tongi East Police Station, told journalists: “A drone was flying in the sky. It probably crashed into the tin roof of a room in Ijtema Maidan because its charge was exhausted. Many worshippers panicked.”
Hospital authorities have released a list of those injured in the stampede who received first aid at the facility.
