10 killed, scores injured as powerful quake hits Bangladesh

At least 10 people were killed and scores of others, including children and the elderly, were injured when a 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck Dhaka and several other parts of the country on Friday morning, November 21.

Of them, five were killed in Narsingdi.

In Dhaka, thirteen people were injured after the railing of a building collapsed on them in the Koshaituli area of Old Dhaka's Armanitola, said Mallik Ahsan Uddin Sami, deputy commissioner of the DMP’s Lalbagh Division.

They were taken to Sir Salimullah Medical College (Mitford) Hospital, where physicians declared three of them dead on arrival, said Shahjahan Sikder, deputy assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD) headquarters media cell.

The deceased were identified as Haji Abdur Rahim, 47, and Mehrab Hossain Rimon, 12, and Rafiul Islam, a student of Sir Salimullah Medical College.

The remaining injured are receiving treatment at the hospital, he added.

A security guard named Md Maksud, 50, was killed after ralling of an under-construction building collapsed on him in Mugdha area.

Mugdha police station's sub-inspector Md Asaduzzaman confirmed the matter of death.

Separately, at least 18 people were brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) from different parts of the capital following the quake.

Md Faruk, in-charge of the DMCH police outpost, said the injured were being treated at the Emergency Department and warned that the toll could rise.

Meanwhile, multiple fire service units in Dhaka and nearby areas responded to a series of structural scare alerts and minor incidents.

In Armanitola’s Kasaituli area, bricks and plaster fell from the wall and cornice of an eight-storey building above a beef shop, injuring customers and passers-by.

Locals rushed the victims to Mitford Hospital before fire service personnel arrived.

In Khilgaon, a passer-by was injured when a brick fell from an under-construction building onto a nearby two-storey structure.

Locals assisted the victim, and fire service officials said no intervention was required.

Two units from Baridhara Fire Station were deployed after a fire broke out at a residence in Block-F, Road-5. The cause of the blaze is yet to be determined.

Reports of leaning buildings were also received from Sutrapur’s Swamibagh and Kalabagan’s Abedkhali Road, prompting further unit deployments.

Officials later confirmed the structures were intact, saying residents had raised the alarm out of fear.

Casualties and injuries were also reported from other districts, including Gazipur and Narsingdi.

In Narsingdi, five people, including a child, were killed and scores were injured during the earthquake in Narsingdi Sadar, Palash and Shibpur upazilas this morning.

The deceased were Kazam Ali Bhuiyan, 75, and Nasir Uddin, 65, of Malita Pashchim Para village and Danga Kajirchar areas respectively under Palash upazila, Delwar Hossain, 37, of Gabtali area in Sadar upazila and his son Omar Faruk, 10, and Forkan, 40, of Ajkitala village under Shibpur upazila.

Of them, Kazam died on the spot when a wall collapsed on him while sleeping on bed at his house during the earthquake, said family members. 

Nasir died of cardiac arrest while running after coming out of the house during the quake, said Monir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Palash Police Station.

Delwar and his son Omar sustained severe injuries when a wall collapsed on them in the Gabtali area.

They were rushed to the DMCH where physicians declared Omar, a student at a Hefz madrasa in the area, dead on arrival, said Md Faruk, in-charge of the hospital police camp.

Delwar, an office assistant at the National Housing Authority, subsequently succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of the DMCH. Omar’s body has been kept at the hospital morgue, Md Faruk confirmed.

Besides, Forkan was critically injured after he fell off a tree while cutting its branches during the quake.

More than 100 others were injured in Narsingdi, most of them hurt while rushing out of their homes, witnesses said.

In Narayanganj, a one-year-old girl was killed and two women, including her mother, were injured when a wall collapsed during an earthquake in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj.

Deceased Fatema was the daughter of Abdul Haque of Islambagh village under Golakandail Union.

According to locals, Fatema’s mother, Kulsum Begum, was walking along the road with the child in her arms when tremors began around 10:38am. As they reached the Islambagh canal No-5 area, a nearby wall suddenly gave way and fell on them, leaving Fatema dead on the spot.

Residents rushed to the scene and recovered the child’s body from beneath the debris.

Kulsum Begum and another woman named Jesmin Begum sustained injuries and were admitted to a local hospital for treatment, said Mokhlesur Rahman, inspector at Bhulta police outpost.

They are receiving treatment at Narsingdi Sadar Hospital, according to Resident Medical Officer Farida Parvin.

In Gazipur, over a hundred garment workers were injured as they hurried down from several factories in Tongi, Gazipur Sadar and Sreepur during the tremor.

Authorities have since closed the factories to bring the situation under control.

With inputs from UNB