A teenager succumbed to his injuries nearly five hours after being burned when miscreants set fire to a bus in the capital, Thursday night.
The deceased was Mohammad Nahid, 18, the third son of Suhrawardy Morol from Shibchar upazila of Madaripur.
Eighteen more burn victims, including a journalist and a lawyer, of the same arson incident were admitted to the hospital.
Earlier around 6pm, miscreants set a bus on fire near Matsha Bhaban during a blockade of the BNP-led opposition 18-party alliance which was extended to Friday.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) burn unit Residential Surgeon Partha Shankar Paul said Nahid succumbed to his injuries sometime around 10:50pm.
A Bihanga Paribahan bus was torched near Matsha Bhaban area around 6pm, Ramna division police Deputy Commissioner Sheikh Maruf Hasan said.
This correspondent reported of the burn victims from DMCH.
Bangladesh Medical Association General Secretary Iqbal Arslan later confirmed that 19 burn victims were admitted, of whom, the condition of four were critical.
“One has been taken to intensive care unit (ICU) while three others were being kept at a high deficiency unit,” he said.
Names of all but two could be obtained in the initial report. One among the victims is a journalist of private Ekushey Television and another a lawyer.
The victims are: ETV reporter Sushmita Sen, her mother Geeta Sen, Shafiqul Islam, Mahbub, his wife Nasima, Abdur Razzak, Nasrin, lawyer Khodeza, Babu, Nahid, Riad, Rahajul, Mohammad Robin, Nurunnabi, Mohammad Shamim and Talha.
AC Shibli Noman said the arson was pre-planned. “Petrol or gunpowder was inside the bus. It is clear that blockade supporters committed the arson.”
No one could be caught for the arson, he said. “Actions will be taken against the perpetrators.”
A total of 17 people have died through Tuesday and Wednesday in violence during the BNP-led 18-party alliance's nationwide blockade.
Several people have died in the past few months of burn injuries in the violence that has marked the political deadlock between the two main political parties of Bangladesh regarding the upcoming elections.