Bangladesh News

A panic-stricken elderly man died of a heart attack in Sirajganj minutes after yesterday’s earthquake that shook the country.

Meanwhile, plaster on ceilings of different rooms of two buildings located in Elephamt Road area in the capital for class IV employees of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) fell down with ceiling fans during and after the earthquake.

Cracks also developed at several parts of the 35-year old buildings throwing the residents into a severe panic.

Soon after the incident, police and other law enforces rushed to the spot. No casualty was however reported.

Besides, around 40 students of Dhaka University (DU) were also hurt as they jumped off the hall balconies and stumbled in the staircases being frightened by the earthquake.

The victim in Sirajganj was identified as Abul Hossain, 65, of Talom Nadipur village of Tarash upazila, reports our local correspondent.

The victim’s family members said Abul Hossain suffered a heart attack from the fright during the earthquake around 12:52am and died within a few minutes in his residence.

According to witnesses, plasters on the ceilings in the DMCH employees’ quarters, fell from above after the earthquake.

In addition, cracks also developed at several parts of the ceilings and walls of the buildings.

Anwara Begum, a class IV employee of DMCH, told The Daily Star last night, “Soon after the earthquake struck early Sunday, plasters fell down from the ceiling of my dining room leaving us in a panic, the ceiling fan also came down.”

“After the incident, we informed the DMCH authorities in the morning. But none even came to visit the damaged building”, she said.

DMCH staff alleged that they had been submitting applications seeking repair of the buildings since 2005, but the authorities did not respond to their petitions.

Our DU correspondent reports, twenty-three injured students received treatment at the university medical centre while 14 others at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) after the quake.

Of the injured students, eight are from Jagannath Hall, four from Haji Mohammad Mohsin Hall, seven from Surya Sen Hall, three from Ziaur Rahman Hall, two from AF Rahman Hall, and one each from Salimullah Muslim Hall, Fazlul Haque Hall, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall and Kobi Jasimuddin Hall.

Seriously injured SM Hero, Raihan Khan and Nurul Islam of Mohsin Hall were undergoing treatment at DMCH with injuries in legs, hands and waists. Basan of the same hall was admitted to National Institute of Traumatology, Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation (Nitor) with injuries to his legs and hands while Arif Ahmed, a resident of Surya Sen Hall, was shifted to DMCH from the university medical centre as his situation deteriorated.

Hundreds of panicked resident students of DU dormitories rushed out of their dormitory rooms and ran for safety following the sudden jolt at 12:52am yesterday.

Many panicked students of Mohsin and Surya Sen halls spent the night in the open.

Some 500 students of the east building of Jagannath Hall, which was identified as too frail to weather an earthquake and declared unsafe for living in 2006, spent the night in great panic.

Meanwhile, a few new cracks were seen on the Mohsin Hall building after yesterday’s earthquake, just beside the cracks identified in April.

The DU authorities formed a committee with experts from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) to examine if the cracks are risky. The authorities also fixed wooden beams to support the cracked ceilings.

Around 6,000 students of the 87-year-old Salimullah Hall, Shahidullah Hall and Jagannath Hall and another 5,000 students of the 42-year-old Surya Sen Hall and Mohsin Hall have been passing days amid fear of earthquakes.

The DU authorities are yet to examine what degree of earthquake these buildings can withstand.