Zakat garment distribution
3 killed, 35 injured in stampede in capital
Three poor women were killed and 35 others injured in a stampede in the capital’s Fakirerpul when several hundred people, mostly women, were trying to attend an iftar followed by a Zakat distribution programme.
The victims, Sajia Akhter Moyna, 30, of Laxmipur, Jarina Begum, 35, of Lalmonirhat and another unidentified elderly woman died in the stampede at the entrance of the multi-storey Abdul Malek market at
about 6:15pm, Motijheel police petrol inspector Sheikh Abul Bashar said.
The deceased and the injured were mostly floating people from the nearby Kamalapur and Mothijheel areas.
The injured were provided treatment at local dispensaries and Dhaka Medical College Hospital, witnesses said.
A police officer named Bashar said that the organisers did not inform them before holding such programme in the residential area which caused such a tragic outcome.
Masud Rana, a shoe-shop owner in the market said that since the morning, several hundred poor people had been gathering in front of the market on 105 Fakhirerpul to attend the iftar and Zakat distribution programme on the seventh-floor of the nine-storey building.
Two women fell down on the narrow passage on the ground floor staircase besides the entrance of the market as people waited for hours and were competing against each other to attend the programme as iftar time approached, witnesses said.
Rokeya Begum who is in her 60s, was able to attend the iftar party after waiting since morning, alleged that as the crowds begin to swell, people started baton-charging in order to disperse them.
Akhter Hossain, one of the organisers, told New Age that they had arranged for about 1,200 local people and about eight hundred people had sat for iftar on the seventh-floor.
He said that on the 27th Ramazan, the family of late businessman, Abdul Malek, gave iftar parties followed by Zakat distribution for the past 20 years.
The widow of Abdul Malek, Parvin Begum, the host of the programme, told media over telephone that every year they arranged such iftars and Zakat distribution programmes for only locals, but this year, hundreds of floating people and beggars had stormed the place which caused the incident.
‘We are not responsible for the deaths as we invited only our poor neighbours,’ she said.
The police arrested Akhter, while other organisers and relatives of Abdul Malek, Shajahan Ali, Minto, Nazrul Islam and Dulal, who were at the scene, went into hiding soon after the incident.
No case was filed till 10:00pm, Mothijheel police said.
-With New Age input
