Bangladesh stampede kills nearly two dozen people
Nearly two dozen people have been killed and many others injured in a stampede during a charity handout in northern Bangladesh, officials say.
The stampede erupted in the early hours of Friday in Mymensingh city, located around 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
The casualties were caused after hundreds of people tried to force their way into a factory compound through a small gate to get their hands on free clothing.
"As the gate was opening, everybody ran towards it, pushing and shoving each other and then they started falling," AFP quoted a witness as saying, adding, "Once one person fell to the ground, another 15 to 20 people fell, too. The people got killed when they closed the gate."
Mymensingh police chief Moinul Haque confirmed that at least 23 people were killed and more than 50 others were injured during the chaotic situation.
"We have so far recovered 23 bodies. Most of the dead are poor and emaciated women," media outlets quoted Haque as saying.
Meanwhile, Kamrul Islam, the senior officer at a police station, said the death toll was likely to rise further as "some people had taken the bodies of their relatives before police arrived at the scene."
Television footage showed relatives rushing through the entrance and corridors of a nearby hospital, cradling the lifeless bodies of their loved ones in their arms.
"My wife had gone there to collect some clothes for herself and for our children," Mohammad Robiul, a rickshaw-puller, told a local Bangladeshi news channel, adding, "I don't know what will happen to my kids."
The footage from the site also showed scenes of utter devastation, with hundreds of blood-spattered sandals abandoned at the gate of the factory.
Rich Bangladeshis often distribute free clothes to poor people during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies have detained seven people, including the owner of the factory for failing to ensure public safety.
In 2002, over three dozen people were killed in a similar stampede at a garment factory in the northern city Tangail.
In April 2013, the collapse of a clothing manufacturing complex on the outskirts of Dhaka left more than 1,100 people dead, making it one of the worst industrial accidents in history.
Factory safety has been a major issue in Bangladesh in recent years.
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