At least 10 people, including two children, were killed, over 1,000 were injured and dozens of buildings developed cracks and tilted as a moderate earthquake jolted Dhaka and elsewhere in the country Friday morning.
Five of the deaths were reported in Narsingdi, four in Dhaka and the other was reported in Narayanganj.
The magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck at 10:38am Bangladesh local time at a depth of 10 kilometers in Narsingdi, about 25 kilometres from Dhaka, the US Geological Survey said.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department, however, said that the quake was of 5.7 magnitude.
Many people, immediately after feeling the sudden jolt,聽became panicked and fled their homes and businesses for open places on the weekly holiday morning.
Many areas in the country also witnessed power supply disruption after the earthquake.
The Department of Disaster Management opened a control room to monitor the overall situation to collect聽updates, the department鈥檚 director general Razwanur Rahman said.
He said that they were recording updated information on death, injuries and damage in gaps. 鈥榃e are still counting the loss,鈥� he said at about 9:00pm.
Chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, in a statement on Friday, expressed deep shock at the casualties in the earthquake.
He said that the government was monitoring the situation and taking appropriate measures to prepare a complete list of the damage from the earthquake.
A resident in the capital鈥檚 Mirpur area, Jaglur Rahman, said that he suddenly noticed that the ceiling fan on his head, television, furniture and his bed were shaking when he had been watching television聽after having his breakfast.
鈥業 did not feel such shaking earlier,鈥� he said and added that he immediately fled the room for an open place nearby.
Directorate General of Health Services director for hospitals, Abu Hussain Md Moinul Ahsan, said that more than 1,000 people took treatment at hospitals across the country.
Hospital officials said that a large number of them became victims of stampedes and falls of substances on them, while some jumped from building roofs out of panic during the earthquake.
The Department of Disaster Management director general, Razwanur Rahman, said that they, until 10:30pm on Friday, received information of at least 14 buildings that were damaged due to the earthquake聽in Dhaka.
In Dhaka, four people were killed in Koshaituli and Mugda areas.
Three of them were killed as the railing of a five-storey building fell on them during the earthquake in Old Dhaka鈥簊 Koshaituli area, Dhaka Metropolitan Police鈥檚 deputy commissioner for Lalbagh division, Mallik Ahsan Uddin Sami, said.
The deceased are Rafiul Islam, 20, Abdur Rahim, 48, and his son Abdul Aziz Rimon, 12, he said.
The other victim, Md Maksud, 50, a security guard by profession, was killed in the capital鈥檚 Mugda area when a railing of an under-construction building fell on him, the police said.
In Narsingdi, five people were killed in the district town and Shibpur and Palash upazilas, 抖阴精品 correspondent in the district, quoting the police and the upazila administration officials, reported.
The deceased are Omar Ali, 10, his father Delwar Hossain, 37, 聽Kazam Ali Bhuiyan, 70, Nasir Uddin, 50, and Sultan Mia, 40.聽聽
Omar and his father Delwar Hossain聽were injured as a wall of an under-construction building fell on them while they came out of their house in the district town, Narsingdi district superintendent of police Menhajul Alam said.
He said that the duo was rushed to the district general hospital, from where they were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Omar was declared dead upon arrival at DMCH and his father died while undergoing treatment there, he saud.
Kazam Ali Bhuiyan聽and Nasir Uddin聽died in separate incidents in Palash upazila of the district when walls collapsed on them, the upazila administration officials said.
The other victim Sultan Mia, 40, died as he fell off a tree while working there in Shibpur upazila of the district, Shibpur upazila administration officials said.
In Narayanganj, a one-year-old girl Fatema died, and two others, including Fatema鈥檚 mother, were injured as a wall of a tin-shed building collapsed on them during the earthquake at Rupganj, Rupganj police station officer-in-charge Muhammad Torikul Islam said.
In Gazipur, more than 500 people, mostly ready-made garment workers, were injured in stampedes following the earthquake, 抖阴精品 correspondent in Gazipur reported.
Gazipur civil surgeon Md Mamunur Rahman said that 86 of the patients were admitted to different hospitals in the district.
He said that they referred 43 seriously injured patients to Dhaka for better treatment.
Gazipur fire service sub-assistant director Mohamamd Mamun said that several buildings in the district developed cracks after the earthquake.
Gazipur鈥檚 Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital director Aminul Islam said that 55 patients, mainly victims of stampedes, were given treatment at the hospital.
He said that cracks developed in the hospital鈥檚 old building.
According to the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters, at least 15 calls were made seeking help from them between 11:00am and 5:00pm.
The calls were from different places from Dhaka, Chattogram, Narsingdi and Gazipur, said Rozina Akhter, duty officer at the fire service control room in Dhaka.
Multiple power plants have tripped due to the earthquake in the morning, causing power supply disruption in many areas of the country, the Bangladesh Power Development Board said in a statement.
According to BPDB, eight power plants, including Bibiyana-2 (Summit) 341 MW, Ashuganj 225 MW, Ashuganj TSK 50 MW, were tripped during the earthquake.
Power, energy, and mineral resources adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan said that they obtained information from different places about cracks on some infrastructures, which were yet to be assessed.聽
The metro rail authorities in Dhaka ran a train twice on a trial basis for safety checking before opening the service in the afternoon, officials said.
