A funeral for a Bangladeshi religious leader drew around 100,000 people in defiance of nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
Police reported that mourners did not wear masks or gloves as they crowded the Sarail district in Brahmanbaria on Saturday to pay their respects to Maulana Jubayer Ahmed Ansari, a senior official of an Islamist party.
Bangladesh has struggled to control the pandemic, leading to strict lockdown measures. Government officials were assured the funeral would observe social distancing rules.
“The madrasa authorities told us they would ensure social distancing, which did not turn out to be the case. We’ll look into it,” Deputy Commissioner Hayat-ud-Doula Khan told the Dhaka Tribune.
Police were unable to handle the huge number of people attending the last rites.
“We had repeatedly asked them to ensure social distancing. Announcements through megaphones were made in the area to that end. Despite all-out efforts from our part, it was not possible to maintain the social distancing rules,” said Additional Superintendent of Police Md Alamgir Hossain.
“The law cannot be enforced on tens of thousands of people,” Hossain said.
Police suspended several senior officers for failing to disperse the crowd.
Bangladesh has imposed a nationwide lockdown since March 26, with a restriction of no more than five people allowed to congregate in prayer in a mosque.
As of Sunday, Bangladesh had 2,456 confirmed coronavirus cases, with 91 deaths.
