Death tolls increases with every visit to hospitals

A complete picture of the total death toll in protests centering the quota reform movement is yet to be known. The death toll is increasing whenever an exhaustive search at the hospitals in Dhaka city is conducted. On Thursday, the deaths of nine more people came to light after visiting two government hospitals and three private ones.

On that day, specific information of deaths at three private hospitals could not be availed as they did not want to share any specific information on it.

Information of a new death came to light at National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital, taking the total death toll at the facility to six.

Hospital’s joint director profession Badrul Alam confirmed these developments to Prothom Alo on Thursday. He said a total of 123 patients injured during the clashes came to the hospital. Of, 32 were admitted and rest were given primary treatment. A total of six of them succumbed to their injuries so far.

Officials of Mugda General Hospital did not provide any specific information. However, a senior physician of the facility on condition of anonymity told Prothom Alo that 300 injured came to the hospital and 100 of them were admitted. Four were brought dead and three died while undergoing treatment. Information of these three deaths while taking treatment was not known erstwhile.

Like government hospitals, most private hospitals are also not providing any specific information on the number of casualties. Some of them maintain they did not keep any register of the people injured during the clashes while some say they were not on-duty during those days.

Badda, Rampura and Banasree were among the flashpoints of the clashes. Authorities at Nagorik Specialised Hospital at Aftabnagar said two were brought dead at their hospital. One of them is 17-year-old Zillur Sheikh. He was shot in the throat and chest at Aftabnagar area on 18 July afternoon. Physicians declared him dead after being taken to the hospital.

Zillur would live at Aftabnagar with his family. None was found at his house during a visit on Thursday. The family members went to Gopalganj to bury Zillur. Neighbours said Zillur went out with his friend who called his father to inform him of the incident. Zillur was rushed to the hospital by rickshaw van and then taken to the house after being declared dead.

A human resources department official of the hospital said another person's body was brought to the hospital.

The authorities at Advanced Hospital at Banasree did not provide any information in this regard. However, the authorities there said bullet shots were fired at their hospital and CCTV cameras were vandalised.
No information on casualty was available from Al-Razi Islamia Hospital in Banasree. Hospital officials said they did not keep record of those injured during the protests.

Rampura’s DIT road is dotted with hospitals on both sides of the road. The area saw violent clashes on 17 to 20 July. Clashes took place in front of these hospitals. Better Life Hospital did not provide any information, however, an official said at least 300 injured persons were brought there. Several bodies were also brought to the hospital. The officials did not disclose any specific number.

Across the road towards Badda there are two hospitals. One of the hospitals is Delta Health Care. Prothom Alo talked with four officials of the hospital including customer care officer Nurun Nabi. They said around 25-30 injured persons were brought to the hospital. A person was brought dead the following day. The boy, around 18-19 years old, had a bullet injury on his arm. The bullet pierced through the lungs. The hospital authorities advised the dead body to be taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. However, they do not know whether the parents of this person took the dead body to the DMCH.

Moreover, a middle-aged person was shot in his head in front of the hospital the same day. The person collapsed in front of the hospital and his body lay motionless at that place for around one and half hours.  
Hospital officials said they told the police to collect the body but they did not. As the body lay there unattended for long, some enraged people attacked the hospital. Later the police took away the body.

Another one is Bangladesh Multicare Hospital. Deputy managing director Md Habibur Rahman told Prothom Alo that one person was brought dead to the hospital. He does not know how many injured persons were brought there during the clashes that continued for several days in the area.

Uttara, Rampura-Badda, Mirpur, Mohammadpur-Bosila, Jatrabari and Shanir Akhra are some hotspots of the protests and clashes. There are several hundred private hospitals and clinics in these areas. Many injured persons received treatment at these hospitals. No specific information can be gleaned from these hospitals.