(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Anti-government protesters firebombed a bus full of sleeping passengers in eastern Bangladesh yesterday, killing seven in spiralling political unrest aimed at toppling Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Several passengers were also critically injured in the attack in the town of Chauddagram which was blamed on activists from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by two-time former premier Khaleda Zia.
"Seven passengers were burnt to death in the bus after the petrol bomb was thrown at 4am," district police chief Tuttul Chakrabarty said by phone.
"Five of the passengers are fighting for their life as 40-80% of their bodies were burnt. They have been shifted to a hospital in the capital," he said.
"It's an act of murder and we're going to hunt down
culprits."
One person also died from burn injuries yesterday from an attack on a van overnight in the capital, a doctor at the Dhaka Medical College
Hospital said.
The deaths bring the toll in the month-long protests to 54 - most of them victims of firebomb attacks on buses and lorries - as opposition activists try to enforce a transport blockade.
Authorities have stepped up the pressure on 69-year-old Zia, who has been holed up in her office since January 3, in a bid to halt the violence.
She called the protests early last month, urging supporters to enforce a nationwide blockade of roads, railways and waterways to force Hasina to call a fresh election.
The BNP and its allies boycotted the last poll in January 2014, saying they believed the result would be rigged.
Authorities on Monday ordered a probe into allegations of murder against Zia over the deadly protests, while a media magnate who is one of her
closest aides was arrested.
Survivors of yesterday's attack said the bus was packed with local tourists returning overnight from the resort town of Cox's Bazaar to the capital Dhaka.
"I woke up hearing loud cries and saw people burning in the bus. I jumped through the window and found a friend in flames. I doused the fire but his condition is critical," one survivor
told private Ekattur TV.
Up to 15 people were injured after they jumped from the vehicle's windows to try to escape the blaze, the police chief added.
Police inspector Mahfuzur Rahman said that authorities suspected BNP activists were behind the petrol bomb. Raids were carried out on local villages near the location of the attack but no arrests were made.
In another attack yesterday, four people suffered burn injuries after a petrol bomb was thrown at a moving train
outside Dhaka, police said.
Hundreds of people have been injured since the protests started, while local media say more than 850 vehicles have been gutted or damaged and inter-city transport services have ground to a halt.
Security forces have launched a nationwide crackdown - but the arrest of more than 10,000 opposition supporters appears to have done little to quell the unrest.
Zia denies her BNP and its Islamist allies are responsible for the firebombings and has demanded the release of detained opposition officials and leaders.
To press her demands, her party announced that a three-day strike that had been set to end yesterday would now be
extended until Thursday.
Hasina has accused her bitter rival Zia of trying to trigger anarchy. Authorities last week charged the opposition leader with abetting and instigating the firebombings.
Western countries including the EU, the impoverished nation's biggest export destination, have urged Hasina's government and the opposition to hold talks to resolve the crisis.
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