April 29, 2013

Savar Tragedy - Death toll rises to 402

Rescue workers pull a garment worker alive from the rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza building. Some 2444 garment worker rescued alive so far.

April 6, 2013

Hefajat-e-Islam’s Dhaka march, calls shutdown for Monday

Hefajat-e Islam on Saturday called dawn-to-dusk hartal for Monday from the grand rally that held at Motijheel intersection protesting “obstructions” on long march in various spot.
The organisation announced fresh agitation programme of rally in different district and division of the country and threatened the government of blockading Dhaka on May 5 if its 13-point demand including stern action against what they called atheist bloggers is not met by April 30.
Communications between Dhaka and the rest of the country were almost snapped on Friday as buses stayed off the roads, frequency of trains were reduced, and water vessels remained anchored at river ports fearing violence ahead of Hefajat-e-Islam’s Dhaka march today.
Transport owners said they did not operate buses on long routes on Friday fearing violence over rival programmes of ‘long march’ by Islamists and a 24-hour shutdown enforced by 25 socio-cultural-professional organisations and a transport blockade by Ganajagaran Mancha that began Friday evening.  
The Hefajat-e Islam leaders alleged that specific orders from the authorities led to the scarcity of transport. They said they would march for Dhaka ‘on foot’ in case vehicles were not available. Ferry services were also closed at Mawa point creating a long tailback of vehicles on both sides of Padma and no vessels left for Dhaka from southern districts.
Frequency of trains was reduced in the eastern zone of railway but the officials claimed they did not cancel any train. ‘The forced derailment of a train in Comilla left an adverse impact on train schedules and it is yet to become normal,’ said Bangladesh Railway’s divisional manager (Chittagong) Sukumar Bhowmik.
The railway authorities on Friday night cancelled schedules of express trains which were supposed to leave for Dhaka from different cities, including Chittagong and Rajshahi. 
In Chittagong, the railway authorities suspended trips of three trains to Dhaka and Noakhali scheduled for Saturday night while another Dhaka-bound train got stranded as miscreants removed tracks in Baraiarhat area of Sitakund. Mohammed Zakir Hossain, divisional traffic officer at the eastern zone of BR, said they had suspended the scheduled trips due to security concern amid frequent subversion during strikes.
Bangladesh Today