10 people killed, scores injured in Bangladesh stampede

DHAKA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) — At least 10 people were crushed to death and over 50 others injured on Monday after a stampede occurred during a funeral rite of a political leader in Bangladesh’s southeastern Chittagong city.
Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Commissioner Iqbal Bahar confirmed the death of 10 people during the tragedy.
He said 10 more people have been rushed to a hospital with critical injuries. The deadly stampede happened in Chittagong’s Rima Community Center, one of the 14 venues where the funeral ritual food was arranged, specially for non-Muslim people, he added.
Most of the victims reportedly died from suffocation.
The victims died while along with thousands of others scurrying into the community center for lunch offered as part of funeral rituals of ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, a leader of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ruling Bangladesh Awami League party and also a former mayor of Chittagong.
Chowdhury died on Dec. 15, bringing the curtain down on a glittering political career spanning over five decades. Enditem