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‘Gathered plant tubs, barricaded rooftop entry’: Bangladesh journalists recall night of horrific arson
“There were 28 of us on the roof, all gripped by intense anxiety and fear,” the Daily Star journalist recounted.
Overnight unrest in Bangladesh following the death of student leader Sharif Osman Hadi sparked widespread protests, street clashes, and attacks on media offices, leaving the nation on edge.
Hadi, a senior leader of the student protest group Inquilab Mancha, was shot during his campaign for the upcoming national elections in Dhaka. He was initially rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition. Later he was airlifted to Singapore where he succumbed to his injuries, according to the Singapore ministry of foreign affairs statement on Thursday.
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Media offices targeted amid public outrage
Videos circulated widely on social media showing protesters vandalising and setting fire to offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, two of Dhaka’s leading newspapers. Journalists and staff inside the buildings posted updates online, urging the public to stop the violence.
At least 25 journalists from The Daily Star were rescued more than four hours after a mob stormed the newspaper’s office in Dhaka’s Kawran Bazar, according to BD News24. The crowd descended on the English-language daily’s office around midnight on Friday. Earlier, protesters had attacked Prothom Alo, vandalising the building and chanting slogans.
Both newspapers were reportedly targeted as protesters accused them of having ties with neighbouring India, where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is currently staying, AFP reported.
‘We were lucky, escaped big disaster,’ journalist recalls attacks
A journalist trapped on the rooftop of The Daily Star recounted the harrowing ordeal to BD News24. The journalist said a warning call alerted staff that the mob, after attacking Prothom Alo, was moving toward their building.
“We were lucky — we narrowly escaped a major disaster today. I don’t know where this country is headed,” the journalist told BD News24.
By the time newsroom staff attempted to evacuate, the mob had reached the ground floor, vandalising the office and setting parts of the building on fire. Amid thick smoke, a group of journalists abandoned attempts to reach the lower floors and instead sought refuge on the 10th-floor rooftop, the report added.
“There were 28 of us on the roof, all gripped by intense anxiety and fear,” the journalist said. He added that at one point, a canteen worker attempted to climb down using an external fire-exit ladder but was caught and beaten by the mob, deterring others from following.
According to BD News24, firefighters later arrived and extinguished the blaze on the lower floors. Four crew members climbed to the rooftop to evacuate the trapped journalists. However, panic resurfaced when several attackers reached the roof and started banging on the door. The journalists barricaded the door with plant tubs, enduring hours of terror.
Zyma Islam, a Daily Star reporter, wrote on Facebook, “I can’t breathe anymore. There’s too much smoke.”
Eventually, Army personnel opened a staircase exit, allowing staff to escape via the rear fire-exit staircase around 3:45 am. By early Friday, firefighters had brought the blaze under control.
Editor beaten up, firefighter injured
Editors’ Council President and New Age editor Nurul Kabir, along with photographer Shahidul Alam, arrived to calm the attackers, but Kabir was reportedly harassed.
A report in BBC Bangla on Friday said that two fire service personnel were injured while trying to put out the fire that broke out at Prothom Alo, they are currently under treatment at a hospital in Dhaka.
Meanwhile, Associated Press reported that soldiers and paramilitary border guards were deployed outside both media buildings but they reportedly did not take action to disperse the protesters. Security officials attempted to persuade the crowd to leave peacefully as firefighters worked to control the fire, it added.
Both newspapers suspended updates on their online editions after the attacks and did not publish broadsheets on Friday.
