More than a hundred people have died in the student protests in Bangladesh since violence erupted last Monday, according to statements from several hospitals across the country, as a heavy security deployment remains in place under a government-imposed curfew.
Hospital data from the capital Dhaka indicate that yesterday marked the most violent day of the demonstrations, with 59 fatalities reported, many of them students, a tally compiled by a news agency cited by sources in the capital.
A police official overseeing the Dhaka University Hospital’s office told reporters that among the dead was a photographer from a local newspaper, which would make this the second journalist killed while covering the protests, according to the same source.
The spokesperson for Dhaka’s metropolitan police confirmed that at least one police officer and a paramilitary officer were among the dead.
According to the same balance, another 41 people died on Thursday, one on Wednesday, and six on Tuesday.
Authorities have not released a full casualty figure to date.
The country has been under curfew since midnight, and the government has ordered the deployment of the army to help restore order.
The country also woke up isolated after fixed-line and internet services were suspended at 21:00 local time on Thursday, with no immediate restoration reported.
The protests began peacefully on July 1, calling for reforms to public employment quotas that protesters say hinder their entry into the job market.
However, they turned violent on Monday after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rejected the protesters’ demands, and the demonstrations were met with a heavy police crackdown that escalated the violence.
These are among the largest protests Hasina has faced since she took office for a fourth term in January, in elections boycotted by the opposition.