Stampede in Bangladesh during Ramadan clothes handout kills at least 23

At least 23 people have been killed in a stampede during a handout of free clothes in the northern Bangladesh city of Mymensingh, police said. The stampede happened on Friday when hundreds of people tried to force their way into a factory compound through a small gate after massing outside the building before dawn, police said.

We have so far recovered 23 bodies. Most of the dead are poor and emaciated women.

Mymensingh Police Chief Moinul Haque

Kamrul Islam, the senior officer at a police station near the factory, said at least 50 others have been injured and the death toll could rise. “Some people had taken the bodies of their relatives before police arrived at the scene,” he said. The owner of the factory and six others have been arrested, Islam said. Rich Bangladeshis often distribute free clothes to poor people during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Some people had taken the bodies of their relatives before police arrived at the scene.

Moinul Haque