Emergency services at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) remained suspended for several hours on Wednesday following a clash between Dhaka University students and interns at the hospital.

According to witnesses, the clash erupted around 5:30pm.

DU sources said Mahadi Hasan Sani, a student of the Department of Botany, went to the hospital with illness in the afternoon when the attending doctor prescribed a medication, asking him to purchase it from outside.

Sani alleged that after visiting several nearby pharmacies and failing to find the medicine, he returned to the doctor and requested an alternative prescription.

At that point, the doctor allegedly reacted angrily and assaulted him physically, he said.

When several of his classmates went to rescue him around 5:30pm, they were also reportedly beaten.

As news of the incident spread around, students from various residential halls of DU gathered in front of the hospital, creating further tension.

The main entrance of the emergency department was closed, with students of DMCH and doctors staying inside, while DU students remained outside chanting slogans. Police took position between the two groups.

A Dhaka Medical College student alleged the DU students created a mob against the doctors, leaving four interns injured.

Later, emergency services at the country’s premier hospital resumed around 9:00pm following a meeting between the authorities of the DMCH and DU, though the DMCH main gate was closed till filing of this report around 10:00pm.

The general secretary of Intern Doctors’ Association of DMCH Nabil Bin Kashem warned that they will go for a strike suspending emergency services if visible steps are not seen within 24 hours.

Meanwhile, a six-member probe committee, headed by a Dhaka University dean, has been formed to investigate the incident.

The committee has been asked to submit its report by July 11, DMCH Director Brigadier General Md. Asaduzzaman said after a meeting at the hospital around 10:05 pm on Wednesday.