Bangladeshi students torched the country’s state broadcaster on Thursday, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared on the network seeking to calm escalating clashes that have killed at least 32 people.
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| Bangladesh student protests. Photo: @France24_en |
Protesters numbering hundreds demanding reform of civil service hiring rules fought back and overwhelmed riot police who had fired at them with rubber bullets, chasing the retreating officers to BTV’s headquarters in the capital Dhaka.
The incensed crowd then set fire to the network’s reception structure and dozens of vehicles parked outside, as disclosed by a BTV official to AFP on condition of anonymity.
The broadcaster said many people were trapped inside as the fire spread, however, another official from the station later told the AFP that, they had safely evacuated the structure.
In addition to seven (7) killed earlier in the week, twenty-five (25) were killed on Thursday, according to casualty figures from hospitals gathered by AFP.
Hundreds more have sustained various degree of injury.
