Tens of thousands of Bangladeshis ignored a nationwide lockdown on Saturday to attend the funeral of a Muslim political leader, prompting fears of a new outbreak in a country straining to contain the disease.
The Bangladeshi police said about 100,000 people had gathered in the town of Sarail without masks or other protective gear for the funeral of Maulana Jubayer Ahmed Ansari, a senior member of an Islamist party.
Alamgir Hossain, a police superintendent in the area, told the Dhaka Tribune that the authorities tried to get people to obey social distancing by blasting messages over loudspeakers, but that the situation soon became impossible to control.
The Bangladeshi police force suspended several senior officers in the district for failing to disperse the crowd.
lockdown on March 26 and banned more than five people from praying together in the country's 300,000 mosques.
But enforcing the rules has been challenging in religious seminaries. Risks of a super spreader event are high in Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated nations, with more than 160 million people.
The country's Health Ministry said the number of infections had risen to about 2,200 on Saturday, with 84 deaths, though the number of people tested remains low.
The Bangladeshi police said about 100,000 people had gathered in the town of Sarail without masks or other protective gear for the funeral of Maulana Jubayer Ahmed Ansari, a senior member of an Islamist party.
Alamgir Hossain, a police superintendent in the area, told the Dhaka Tribune that the authorities tried to get people to obey social distancing by blasting messages over loudspeakers, but that the situation soon became impossible to control.
The Bangladeshi police force suspended several senior officers in the district for failing to disperse the crowd.
lockdown on March 26 and banned more than five people from praying together in the country's 300,000 mosques.
But enforcing the rules has been challenging in religious seminaries. Risks of a super spreader event are high in Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated nations, with more than 160 million people.
The country's Health Ministry said the number of infections had risen to about 2,200 on Saturday, with 84 deaths, though the number of people tested remains low.
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