Tremor in Bangladesh claims three lives

Three women have died in three districts due to tremors that jolted Bangladesh following a powerful 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Nepal.

A woman died after a wall collapsed in Bogra while two others were killed in Pabna and Tangail while trying to rush out in panic on Saturday.

bdnews24.com’s Bogra correspondent said Morsheda Begum, 55, was feeding cow beside a mud house when the wall collapsed on her.

Dupchanchia Police Station OC Gopal Chakraborty confirmed her death.

In Pabna, the second woman died while trying to rush out after the earthquake hit, police said.

Rokeya Khanam, 50, leader of ruling Awami League’s local women front unit, banged her head on a wall while evacuating.

Doctors at a local hospital declared her dead when she was taken there.

The third casualty took place at Gorhai Union in Tangail’s Mirzapur when a panicked Porina Begum, 25, fainted and fell on the floor of her house.

She was declared dead by doctors at Mirzapur’s Kumudini Hospital after taken there. But doctors could not immediately ascertain cause of the death.

At least 50 readymade garment workers were injured at Ishwardi EPZ during panic evacuations.

They were admitted at the Upazila Health Complex, doctors said.

Savar’s Enam Medical College and Hospital authorities had said a garment factory worker was killed in a stampede after the quake, but later confirmed that death was not related to earthquake.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake, initially measured at 7.7 but upgraded to 7.9 magnitude, struck 80 km (50 miles) east of Nepal’s Pokhara, sending tremors to northern India and Bangladesh.

The quake left a trail of massive destruction and more than a thousand people dead in Nepal.

The death toll is expected to rise.