At least 50 people were feared to have burned to death on Saturday after fire engulfed a bus in the eastern Bangladeshi town of Comilla, police said. "The bus with nearly 60 people on board hit an auto rickshaw causing its gas cylinder to explode. A fire started and swept through the bus," said Mohammed Kamal Uddin, district police inspector in Comilla.
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/ 8 December 2006
Bangladesh moved to within one win of a series sweep over Zimbabwe after they eased to an eight-wicket victory over the tourists in the fourth match at Mirpur Stadium on Friday. An unbeaten half century (58) by man-of-the-match Aftab Ahmed helped Bangladesh reach 147-2 in 32.2 overs, with Saqibul Hasan hitting the winning run for the hosts to end the contest not out on 31.
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/ 20 November 2006
At least 20 people were wounded in gun battles between rival activists as a transport blockade to force the removal of controversial election officials paralysed Bangladesh on Monday, police and witnesses said. The wounded, including a police officer caught in crossfire, were taken to hospitals following battles in western Natore, 230km from the capital Dhaka.
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/ 15 November 2006
A series of small bombs wounded eight people in the Bangladeshi capital as a transport shutdown to force the dismissal of election officials paralysed the country for a fourth day on Wednesday. Witnesses said the overnight blasts near the office of the Awami League triggered widespread panic in Dhaka.
A storm in the Bay of Bengal sank seven fishing boats and at least 60 Bangladeshi fishermen were missing, police said on Sunday. The storm on Saturday also triggered a metre-high water surge, washing away some houses and shops on the island of Saint Martin, about 500km south-east of the capital Dhaka.
Bangladesh are confident of picking up a first overseas victory when they embark on a back-to-back one-day international series in Zimbabwe and Kenya later this month. ”We have displayed a lot of improvement in recent times, so it is fair to say we are favourites for both series,” said Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar.
Britain has thrown out a lawsuit worth millions of pounds in compensation to victims of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh. The House of Lords this week dismissed a case brought by Binod Sutradhar against the British Geological Survey. Sutradhar claimed the survey was negligent in not testing for arsenic during a water evaluation in Bangladesh.
Hundreds of fishermen along Bangladesh’s southern coast returned to shore on Saturday as a cyclone packing winds of up to 160kph churned its way across the Bay of Bengal, officials said. Cyclone Mala, which in Bengali language means ”a garland of flowers”, was centred about 650km south-southwest of the seaport of Chittagong.
Andrew Symonds smashed an unbeaten century to help Australia score a 67-run victory over Bangladesh in the second one-day international on Wednesday. The Queenslander’s 103 not out helped the tourists set a tough 251-run target for Bangladesh on a pitch not conducive to stroke play. The home side were bowled out for 183 in reply.
Bangladesh were struggling to avoid an innings defeat on Wednesday after an astonishing double century from Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie in the second and final Test. At close on day four, Bangladesh were 195-4, needing 189 more runs to make Australia bat again after conceding a 384-run first-innings lead.
Australian tail-ender Jason Gillespie stunned both himself and the cricket world on Wednesday by scoring an unbeaten 201 in the second Test against Bangladesh. ”I never expected it in my wildest dreams … so it’s pretty surreal, pretty bizarre actually,” said the fast bowler, who celebrated his 31st birthday with one of the most astonishing Test knocks ever seen.
Jason Gillespie was the unlikely hero with the bat for Australia on Tuesday, striking a maiden Test century as the visitors took control of the second Test against Bangladesh. Six days after narrowly avoiding a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Test minnows, normal service was resumed for the world’s best side as they finished the third day on 364-3 in reply to Bangladesh’s paltry 197.
Skipper Ricky Ponting and opener Matthew Hayden took Australia closer to victory on Wednesday after their early scare against bottom-ranked Bangladesh in the first Test. Ponting was on 72 at stumps on the fourth day with first-innings centurion Adam Gilchrist on six as Australia reached 212-4, 95 short of a win.
Adam Gilchrist struck a robust century to lead an Australian fightback against Bangladesh on the third day of the first Test here in Bangladesh on Tuesday. The hard-hitting left-hander struck a gritty 144 to help avoid the ignominy of a follow-on before the Australian bowlers struck crucial blows in Bangladesh’s second innings.
Australia’s wily leg-spinner Shane Warne said on Saturday all Test scalps were important and that he had not blasted Muttiah Muralitharan for taking easy wickets. Warne, who was quoted as saying earlier this year that competitors like Sri Lankan off-spinner Muralitharan had got a lot of ”cheap wickets”, said he had been quoted out of context then.
Farmer Badiuddin Ahmed points to the outline of the long dried-up river that once irrigated his land. "We used to swim and have boat races in this river," he says. "It gave us fish to eat. Our lands were fertile. But now it is as dry and dusty as the land." Water — the lifeblood of Bangladesh’s agriculture-based economy — is everywhere in the South Asian nation.
Sri Lanka spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan joined Shane Warne as the only cricketer to reach 600 Test wickets on Friday, ensuring their fierce rivalry continues. The landmark wicket sparked celebrations from the Sri Lankan players, who mobbed their star bowler, completing the feat 13 years after his Test debut.
Upul Tharanga struck his maiden Test century on Thursday as Sri Lanka recovered from an early stutter to take command on the second day of the second Test match against Bangladesh. Tharanga hit an unbeaten 160 to power Sri Lanka to 302-8 at stumps, along with tail-ender Lasith Malinga on 12.
Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan ripped through Bangladesh’s batting line-up on the opening day of the second Test in Bogra, Bangladesh on Wednesday.
The off-spinner snared four scalps as Bangladesh were left tottering on 188-6 at tea after electing to bat.
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/ 28 February 2006
A court sentenced 21 Islamic militants to death on Tuesday for their part in a deadly wave of blasts that saw more than 400 bombs explode almost simultaneously across Bangladesh last year. The bombings killed three people and rocked a nation which had previously denied having a serious problem with extremism.
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/ 27 February 2006
Rescuers recovered another body from a collapsed building in the Bangladeshi capital on Monday, raising the death toll to 19, as Parliament passed a law imposing jail terms for building code violators. Firefighters and soldiers found the body of 25-year-old construction worker Humayun while searching for survivors in the debris for the third consecutive day.
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/ 26 February 2006
Hopes faded on Sunday for survivors trapped inside a six-storey building a day after it collapsed in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, killing at least 16 people, an official said. Rescuers with search lights and crowbars sifted overnight through the rubble of the building, but no bodies or survivors were found.
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/ 25 February 2006
A five-storey building undergoing renovations collapsed in the Bangladeshi capital on Saturday, killing at least 16 people and injuring 45, the army said. The building housed a garment-making outlet and street-level shops. Police said many workers were inside the building at the time of the collapse but had no exact tally.
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/ 23 January 2006
A lovelorn Bangladeshi chopped off one of his fingertips, wrapped it in gift paper and gave it to the girl he wanted to marry as a token of his love, officials said on Monday. But the gesture failed to impress 18-year-old Sahera Khatun, whose horrified father complained to village elders in the north-western district of Gaibandha.
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/ 29 November 2005
Eight people were killed and 23 badly hurt on Tuesday in two suicide bombings in Bangladesh that police blamed on Islamic extremists, the latest in a string of attacks in the Muslim-majority nation. Police accused the hard-line group Jamayetul Mujahideen of staging the attacks targeting the nation’s legal system.
An earthquake measuring 5,4 on the Richter scale jolted southern and central Bangladesh on Saturday, whipping up high waves in the Bay of Bengal, officials said. The quake came the same day that a major earthquake struck northern Pakistan, about 2 000km north-west of Bangladesh, early on Saturday.
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/ 21 September 2005
Nearly 3Â 500 fishermen were missing in the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday as more than 200 fishing trawlers capsized in turbulent waves after setting sail from the southern Bangladesh coast three days ago, officials said.
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/ 20 September 2005
Filmmakers in Muslim-majority Bangladesh who fail to heed government calls to ”cleanse obscenity” from the nation’s film industry will face up to three years in jail. Abu Abdullah, vice-chairperson of the Bangladesh Film Censor Board, said a law placed before Parliament earlier this month would plug holes in existing legislation and leave filmmakers facing prison sentences of between one and three years.
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/ 19 September 2005
High walls of water stirred up by tropical gales in the Bay of Bengal have submerged southern Bangladeshi coastal districts, forcing thousands to flee their homes and farms, officials said on Monday. At least 40 fishing trawlers with an estimated 300 fishermen aboard have gone missing.
About 350 small bombs exploded within an hour of each other across Bangladesh on Wednesday, killing two people and injuring more than 100 in an unprecedented attack initially linked to banned Islamic extremists. The bombs, which killed a man and a 10-year-old boy, exploded in almost all of Bangladesh’s 64 towns and cities.
Relief operations continued in northern and central Bangladesh on Monday where tens of thousands were left homeless last week after torrential rains sparked floods that killed at least 23 people and left a dozen others missing. The death toll is expected to rise as the monsoon rains are set to continue for several more days.
About one million people have been displaced from rain-swept villages in heavy monsoon flooding in northern and central Bangladesh, officials said on Monday. Earlier, disaster management officials said about 100 000 people were fighting the elements in villages isolated by flood waters.