27 dead in Bangladesh charity handout stampede

A stampede during a Ramadan charity handout killed at least 27 people in Bangladesh on Friday as hundreds of desperately poor people tried to get their hands on free clothing, police said.

The stampede in the northern city of Mymensingh erupted when crowds of people tried to force their way into a factory compound through a small gate after massing outside before dawn, according to local police chiefs.

Television footage from the site showed scenes of utter devastation, with hundreds of torn and blood-spattered sandals abandoned at the gate of the chewing tobacco factory, which is located around 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

"Most of the dead are poor and emaciated women," Kamrul Islam, a senior officer at a police station near the factory, told AFP. Mymensingh police chief Moinul Haque said at least 50 people were also injured.   (AFP)

Visit Qantara.de's dossiers on Bangladesh and Ramadan