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Nine Dead In Dhaka Bomb Blast
DHAKA, April 14 (News Agencies) - Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed Saturday ordered police to find those responsible for a suspected bomb attack at a Bengali New Year concert which killed nine people.
No one has so far claimed responsibility for Saturday morning's explosion in Dhaka's crowded Ramna Park, which killed eight people instantly. A ninth died later in hospital.
More than a dozen people were injured, and doctors were fighting to save the life of the only woman victim. A policeman was slightly injured in a second smaller blast while explosives experts defused a third device found wrapped in a gift box at the entrance of the park, the official BSS news agency reported.
Sheikh Hasina, speaking to reporters immediately after the incident, expressed her "indignation and deep shock" and ordered police to take all possible steps to trace those behind the attack.
"The people behind the incident wanted to stop Bangladesh's march towards progress and development," she said.
Sheikh Hasina, in an apparent reference to the political opposition, blamed "certain quarters" for helping the "anti-liberation forces cliques to indulge [in] such heinous acts by providing them a political platform."
She cancelled her New Year's party at her official Ganabhaban residence after rushing to hospitals to see the victims, saying after a minute of silence in memory of those killed: "We are mourning today instead of rejoicing ... this is sad as this group under the political patronage of power hungry group have been involved in such activities one after the other."
"They are tarnishing Islam, a religion of peace and brotherhood," she said.
She told diplomats and leading cultural figures that, "we are taking steps so that such incidents cannot be repeated and we will not tolerate this any more."
Main opposition leader Khaleda Zia in a statement condemned the killings and demanded a judicial inquiry.
Home Minister Mohammad Nasim, senior police officials, army explosive experts visited the scene and announced an immediate investigation.
"We will soon unearth who are behind this bombing," he said.
Police suspect the attack shortly after 8.00am (0200 GMT) was carried out by "suicide" bombers.
M.A. Kashem, a senior police officer, told the BSS agency that "smoke was coming from the belly of a victim even after ten minutes of the explosion and that electric wire was also wrapped around his body."
Police recovered a cylinder, a small battery and splinters from the scene.
Dhaka's police chief Matiur Rahman said it was almost certain some of the victims were the bomb carriers themselves.
He also said that it was highly possible the bomb could have prematurely detonated as a result of high temperatures and crowd pressure.
The popular singer Sanjeeta Khatun issued a defiant message to the bombers after the tragedy.
"We always fought with songs and today also we are not scared ... We all must turn our grief into strength to resist these forces," she said.
Others wiped their tears and demanded exemplary punishment of those involved.
"The bomb went off with horrid sound and then I saw people lying in a pool of blood ... I quickly ran away," an individual named Tanya told AFP after witnessing the blast.
Some people fainted on seeing the bodies, while hundreds of people fled in panic.
The explosions forced the cancellation of daylong cultural programs to mark the Bengali New Year or Pahela Baishakh in and around the Dhaka University campus, where several hundred children staged a march in protest at the bombing.
But, several hours later the crowds returned and stayed on until late evening, joining a fair at the park.
The blasts followed a series of opposition-enforced nationwide general strikes this month, which have been marked by violent clashes that have left 11 people dead and hundreds, injured, mainly from bomb wounds.
Another 72-hour shutdown, aimed at forcing the government to call early parliamentary elections, is scheduled to begin on April 23rd, although Sheikh Hasina ruled out the possibility of early polls in her speech as the parliamentary session ended on Thursday.
In 1999, a powerful bomb blast at an open-air concert by the Udichi cultural group in western Jessore district left 11 dead and scores injured, while this year, powerful blasts at a Communist party rally in Dhaka killed six people and injured 50 others.
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