Two people, including a journalist, were seriously injured on Saturday as BNP's youth rally stage collapsed at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka.
The injured are Shiuli Akter, 44, a journalist, and Nayeem Hossain, 22, a Chhatra Dal activist. They were taken to the Emergency Department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
DMCH Emergency Department Resident Doctor Alauddin said: "Nayeem has been admitted to the hospital with a broken left leg and a sprained ankle. Both of his legs have been plastered."
Nayeem said: "I was standing behind the stage when suddenly it collapsed."
Before the formal start of the scheduled youth rally of three associate bodies of BNP, the stage collapsed when Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal president Sultan Salahuddin Tuku was speaking to formally open the rally around 1:50pm.
Though the rally was scheduled to begin at 2pm, the organizers could not start as of 3pm. The party leaders were seen repeatedly urging the followers to sit down on the ground and maintain discipline.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir stepped on the collapsed stage around 2:45pm. He will address the program as the chief guest and give the youth various directions to intensify the ongoing one-point movement.
The leaders and activists of BNP and its associate bodies in their thousands converged on the rally venue to press home their one-point demand, including holding the next election under a neutral government.
Youth leaders and activists from various parts of Dhaka wearing different coloured caps and carrying banners, festoons, placards and portraits of the party's top leaders have started gathering at the venue in processions since morning.
