Padma Bridge shooting: Chinese company expresses regret, Bangladesh Railway committee formed

China Railway Group Limited (CREC), contractor of Padma Bridge Rail Link Project, expressed regrets for their security guards firing on several protesting workers in the project area of Sitarampur in Lauhajang of Munshiganj, on Wednesday.

According to a statement given by CREC, the Chinese organization hopes that injured workers can recover soon.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Railway has formed a three-member committee in this regard on Thursday.

“A committee is working to determine the exact cause behind the incident. We will take action after receiving their report,” said Golam Fakruddin A Chowdhury, director of the project.

According to CREC, at around 9pm on May 6, in one of CREC’s isolation shelter camps in Mawa where around 500 local workers are staying, a group of workers gathered to complain about their inadequate temporary allowances.

This gathering was organized by a few disgruntled workers who had been stopped from re-entering the isolation shelter camp after they had broken isolation protocol and left the camp for their homes in nearby villages.

To prevent the situation from spiralling out of control, some security guards tried to maintain order, while one of them fired his shotgun pointed towards the sky to deter the crowd.

Eight workers were left with scratches, bruises, and other minor injuries during the chasing and the accidental shooting, and have been shifted to local hospitals for treatment.

Since May 06, all of the local workers have been staying in 86 isolation shelter camps along the 170km route of the project, stated CREC.

Currently, the situation in the Mawa camp has been brought back to normal.

The Chinese construction company also requested the government of Bangladesh to take practical measures to ensure the legitimate rights and safety of their personnel and to prevent such incidents from happening again.

dhakatribune

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