24 burnt alive as hotel owned by Awami League leader set ablaze

At least 24 people, including an Indonesian national, were burnt alive by a mob in Bangladesh at a starred hotel owned by a leader of Awami League, PTI reported quoting local journalists and hospital sources.

The victims, mostly boarders, were burnt alive late on Monday night as the mob set on fire Zabir International Hotel owned by district Awami League general secretary Shahin Chakkladar in Joshor district.

“The dead included an Indonesian national,” a local journalist told PTI over phone.

He added the doctors at Joshor General Hospital confirmed they counted 24 bodies while surviving hotel staff feared more bodies could be found inside the debris.

Media reports suggested unidentified mob, opposed to the Awami League regime, set the ground floor of the hotel on fire which quickly spread to the upper floors.

There were almost identical reports from across the country where mobs simultaneously vandalised residences and business establishments of many Awami League leaders and activists, including its central office in Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital.