Relatives mourn as ten people were killed in a stampede when thousands of people thronged a convention centre in Chittagong to attend the Qulkhwani of former CCC mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury on Monday. — AFP CHITTAGONG, Dec 18: At least 10 people died and 15 others injured in a stampede during the Qulkhwani of late Awami League leader and former City Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury in the city today.
Organisers said they were serving non-beef dishes for the Hindus at around noon at the Rima Convention Centre in Ashkar
Dighi area on the Shaheed Saifuddin Khaled Road to the east of Kazir Dewri.
With the crowd swelling out of control, people jostled for space on the ramp outside the entrance, forcing some visitors to fall only to be trampled by those behind.
Some 25 people were injured and sent to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital, where the doctors declared 10 of them dead.
The deceased were identified as Sudhir Das, Krishnapada Das, Jhantu Das, Pradip Talukdar, Liton Dev, Dhana Shil, Ashish Barua, Dipankar Rahul Das, Robin Das and Ujjal Chowdhury. They were all between the age of 30 and 40 years.
Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police Iqbal Bahar also confirmed the death of 10 people as he visited the hospital in the afternoon.
Four of the injured were undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital. They received severe head injuries. Others were also under treatment in the hospital, said Md Zahirul Islam, in-charge of the police stationed at the CMCH.
Mohiuddin Chowdhury's eldest son Mohibul Hassan Nowphel, who is also one of the organising secretaries of ruling Awami League's central executive committee, rushed to the hospital to see the victims.
He announced Tk 1,00,000 in compensation and Tk 5,000 for funeral rites for each family of the deceased. He also announced to bear all costs of the treatment and medicine for the injured ones.
The district administration also announced paying Tk 25,000 for each family of the deceased, concerned sources said.
On the occasion of the Qulkhwani of Mohiuddin Chowdhury, his family organised Mezban for the people in 14 community halls around the city, among which, arrangement was made for non-beef dishes for the non-Muslims in the two-storey hall.
Asked whether there was enough security measures for the visitors, the CMP commissioner said it was not an issue of security. There was no lack of security, he said, adding that the people were injured after falling on the ground and trampled. The gate was not wide enough, so all were trying to get inside at a time and fell victims of stampede.
Saibal Das Sumon, ward councilor of Jamal Khan, the local council of the Chittagong City Corporation, said the entrance was slanting downwards. Besides, the convention hall has the capacity of holding four to five thousands of people, but the number of guests was more than 10,000.
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