Dhaka // At least 24 people died in a stampede during a Ramadan charity handout of free clothing in Bangladesh.
The stampede in the northern city of Mymensingh occurred when a crowd tried to force its way in to a factory compound through a small gate after massing outside before dawn on Friday.
Television footage from the site showed scenes of utter devastation, with hundreds of torn and blood-spattered sandals abandoned at the gate of the chewing tobacco factory, about 120 kilometres north of Dhaka.
“We have so far recovered 24 bodies. Most of the dead are poor and emaciated women and two children,” said Mymensingh police chief Moinul Haque, putting the number of injured at more than 50.
Kamrul Islam, the senior officer at a police station near the factory, said the death toll was likely to rise. Local media said scores of people had been injured.
“We have handed over 24 bodies to the relatives,” Mr Islam said.
Ambia Begum, 45, went with seven female relatives at dawn. One of them died in the stampede.
“Oh Allah, why did I come here? Why?” she wailed as the body of her 60-year-old relative was retrieved.
Many of the victims were ferried by cycle rickshaws to a nearby hospital. Television footage showing relatives rushing through the entrance and corridors, cradling the lifeless bodies of their loved ones in their arms.
Mohammad Robiul, a rickshaw-puller, lost his wife in the tragedy.
“My wife had gone there to collect some clothes for herself and for our children,” he told the Somoy Television news channel.
“I don’t know what will happen to my kids,” he said, before bursting into tears.
A witness told the bdnews24 website that the stampede began when a number of people fell to the ground as a melee erupted.
“As the gate was opening, everybody ran towards it, pushing and shoving each other and then they started falling,” said rickshaw-puller Dulal Mia.
“Once one person fell to the ground, another 15 to 20 people fell, too. The people got killed when they closed the gate.”
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina expressed deep shock over the tragedy, according to the state-run BSS news agency.
In a condolence message, the prime minister offered prayers and “conveyed profound sympathy to the bereaved families”.
The religious affairs ministry said it would pay each family 10,000 taka [Dh473] to cover the cost of the funerals of their relatives.
Police and local officials said the owner of the factory and six other people had been arrested for failing to ensure public safety.
“Legal action will be taken against them,” said Mustakim Billah, the district governor.
A special police committee has been set up to investigate the tragedy and will report its findings within the next three days.
Police said up to 1,500 people had massed outside the factory at around 4.45 am after the owners announced they would distribute free clothes to poor people.
Rich Bangladeshis often distribute free clothes to the poor during the holy month of Ramadan.
But the handouts have sparked several deadly stampedes over the years.
About 40 people were killed in a similar stampede at a garment factory in the northern city Tangail in 2002.
Factory safety has been a major issue in Bangladesh since the collapse of a clothing manufacturing complex in April 2013 that left more than 1,100 people dead, making it one of the worst industrial accidents in history.
* Agence France-Presse with additional reporting from Associated Press
