Madrasa classroom blown apart in Keraniganj explosion, bomb-making materials recovered

A powerful explosion occurred at a madrasa in the Hasnabad area of South Keraniganj in Dhaka, injuring four people, including women and children.

The blast blew off the walls of two rooms on the western side of the madrasa’s single-storey building. Eyewitnesses and police said cocktail explosives, chemicals, and various bomb-making materials were found at the scene.

The explosion took place at around 10:30am yesterday, Friday, at the single-storey building of Ummal Qura International Madrasa in the Hasnabad area of South Keraniganj.

Saiful Alam, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of South Keraniganj Police Station, said that a bomb disposal team is working at the site and the operation is still ongoing. Crude bomb explosives, incendiary materials, and bomb-making equipment have been recovered.

He added that a general diary (GD) has been filed at the police station regarding the incident. Additionally, the crime scene investigation team and the bomb disposal unit are working to determine the exact cause of the explosion.

A resident of Hasnabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “At around 10:30am yesterday, we suddenly heard a loud bang. When I ran to the site, I saw that the walls around two rooms on the western side of the madrasa had been blown away. The walls of the two rooms in the single-storey building completely collapsed, and cracks appeared in the roof and beams. Two adjacent rooms also developed cracks.”

The resident added that the madrasa had 30 to 35 students, but since it was a holiday on Friday, the madrasa was closed, which prevented any major loss of life.

In the incident, the madrasa’s director, Sheikh Al Amin, 32, his wife, Achiya Begum, 28, and two of their three children, Umayet, 10 and Abdullah, 7, were injured. Achiya and her two children were initially taken to a local hospital, from where the attending doctors referred them to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment.

On one side of the building, three rooms were used for the madrasa’s activities. On the opposite side, the director, Sheikh Al Amin, had been living with his family in one room for the past three years.

Humayun Kabir, a resident of the neighboring building, said, “The explosion cracked parts of our building. Furniture inside the rooms also collapsed.”

The building owner, Parveen Begum, said, “For the past three years, Mufti Harun ran the madrasa in my rented house. Harun entrusted the management of the madrasa to his brother-in-law Al Amin and Al Amin’s wife, Achiya. Harun used to visit the madrasa occasionally, and I would check in regularly. But I never realised what activities were happening behind the madrasa’s walls. Today, I see that the walls of the building have been blown away. The police have recovered chemicals, cocktail explosives, and bomb-making equipment from inside the building.”