Chattogram
Missing Chinese citizen found dead in Chattogram
A Chinese national, who had gone missing on Wednesday, was found dead in a water body near the southern part of the Banshkhali Thermal Power Plant in Chattogram district on Thursday.
The Chinese national, G Kingwan, 34, working at the thermal power plant in Banshkhali upazila, remained missing since Wednesday noon.
Read:Chinese worker goes missing in Chattogram
He was last spotted catching fish in the Bay of Bengal," said Safiul Kabir, officer-in-charge of Banshkhali Police Station.
Kingwan, along with his colleagues, went to the site adjacent to the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday morning to join a pipe-installation work. His colleagues informed the police about his disappearance around 2.30 pm.
Later, a GD was registered with the Banshkhali police station.
On Thursday morning, local people spotted the floating body of the Chinese man in the water body and informed the police, said Akter Hossain, sub-inspector of the police station.
Read:Reward announced for info on missing Chinese engineer
Police later recovered the body and sent it to Chattogram Medical College and Hospital for autopsy.
“We’ve no idea how the Chinese man died …police are investigating it,” said chief coordinator of the power plant Faruk Ahmed.
Chinese worker goes missing in Chattogram
A Chinese national, working at a thermal power plant in Banshkhali upazila of Chattogram district, has gone missing, police said on Thursday.
The missing Chinese worker has been identified as G Kingwan, 34, an employee of the S. Alam Group that owns the power plant in Chattogram.
Read: Reward announced for info on missing Chinese engineer
"He has been missing since Wednesday noon. He was last spotted catching fish in the Bay of Bengal," said Safiul Kabir, officer-in-charge of the Banshkhali police station.
The Chinese national, along with his colleagues, went to the site adjacent to the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday morning for pipe installation work. His colleagues informed police about his disappearance around 2.30 pm.
"We are on the job," the OC said.
2 held over taking vaccine at home in Chattogram
Police arrested a businessman after he uploaded a Facebook post boasting of taking Covid vaccine at his home in the port city on Monday.
Mohammad Hasan’s trouble began as his post, along with his image taking the shot in the arm, went viral. Another man Mobarak Ali, who assisted him in taking the jab, was also arrested.
Read:Another black fungus case detected in Chattogram
Aftab Hossain, inspector of Khulshi Police Station, said Hasan also uploaded a statement thanking Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Mobarak Ali for getting the first dose of Moderna vaccine, said Aftab.
Mohammad Shahinuzzaman, officer-in-charge of Khulshi Police Station, said “We have got an oral complaint. Later, a team of police conducted a drive at the house of Hasan at Zakir Hossain Road and arrested him early Monday.”
Read:Chattogram receives 2.6 lakh jabs ahead of vaccination push
Police are looking for Hasan’s friend who took the vaccine in the same manner, said OC.
Civil Surgeon Sheikh Fazle Rabbi, said “We will find out who were behind this and who took the shots at home. The health worker, who is responsible for that, will be brought under law as taking a jab at home is a crime.”
Another black fungus case detected in Chattogram
A 48-year-old man has been diagnosed with black fungus at Chattogram Medical College and Hospital on Monday, officials said.
Director of Chattogram Medical College and Hospital Brig General SM Humayun Kabir said the patient has been undergoing treatment at the hospital since Friday and a medical board has been formed for him to provide necessary treatment.
Read: 2 held over taking vaccine at home in Chattogram
This is the second case of black fungus in Chattogram and the first case was reported on July 29.
The 60-year-old woman is still undergoing treatment at the hospital.
The second patient is a resident of Karnaphuli upazila and he was not infected by Covid-19 as he has taken the two doses of Covid vaccine, said sources at the hospital.
However, the patient has been suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma.
His family members took him to a doctor when he complained of mouth pain and he was admitted to a private hospital on July 25.
Read: Chattogram receives 2.6 lakh jabs ahead of vaccination push
On August 6, he was detected with black fungus and admitted to Chattogram Medical College and Hospital.
Prof Dr Suzat Pal, head of the medicine department of the hospital, said, “There’s a schedule to conduct surgery on the first patient detected with black fungus on Monday. The second patient also needs a surgery but it depends on the health condition of the patient.”
On May 25, the first cases of black fungus in Bangladesh were detected in two Covid-recovered patients at Birdem General Hospital.
Read:Covid: 10 more die in Chattogram
Black fungus, a rare infection, has a mortality rate of 50% "with some only saved by removing an eye". The fungus affects many areas of the body, including the eyes, nose, face, and even the brain in severe cases.
In recent months, India reportedly saw many black fungus cases affecting recovered and recovering Covid-19 patients.
Criminal wanted in robbery & murder case killed in Chattogram ‘gunfight’
A suspected robber wanted in a murder case was killed in a reported gunfight with the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in the Salimpur area of Chattogram's Sitakunda upazila in the early hours of Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Kajal, 48, a resident of the Pahartoli area of the port city.
Acting on a tip-off about the presence of a gang of robbers, a Rab-7 team raided the Salimpur area around 1.30am, Mohammad Nurul Absar, senior assistant director of Rab-7, said.
Also read: ‘Rohingya robber’ killed in ‘gunfight’ with Rab in Cox's Bazar
"Sensing the presence of the elite force, the robbers opened fire on the RAB personnel, forcing the sleuths to retaliate. Kajal sustained bullet wounds in the gunfight and died on the spot," Absar said.
A pistol, two bullets, two guns, 15 cartridges, two machetes and a knife were recovered from the spot, the RAB said.
On information, police sent the body to the Chattogram Medical College and Hospital morgue for an autopsy, said Sumon Banik, officer-in-charge of the Sitakunda police station.
Also read: ‘Robber’ killed in ‘gunfight’ with Rab in Gazipur
On July 16, Abdur Rahman, 35, son of Mohammad Bashir Miah of Chanda village of Jashore district, was allegedly shot dead by Kajal and his men on Fauzdarhat-Bayezid Link Road in Salimpur union as the former didn't stop his truck despite being signalled to.
Abdur was transporting cattle in his truck to Bibir Hat in Chattogram from Magura when
the alleged crime occurred, police had said.
Chattogram receives 2.6 lakh jabs ahead of vaccination push
Chattogram has received another 2,66,400 doses of covid vaccine on Friday morning as the nationwide vaccination drive is set to get a push on Saturday.
Of the 2,66,400 doses of vaccine received here, 38,400 doses are of Moderna, USA, 1,20,000 are of China’s Sinopharm and 1,80,000 are of Oxford-AstraZeneca.
Civil Surgeon of the district Dr Sheikh Fazle Rabbi along with the local vaccine committee members received the vaccine doses around 7am.
Read: People find 'easy excuses' to defy lockdown in Dhaka
The civil surgeon said the vaccine doses were stored in the central cold storage of the civil surgeon's office. These doses will be supplied to vaccination centres as per their demand.
Among the vaccine doses, AstraZeneca jabs are for the second dose, Moderna for the ward-based mass vaccination programme and Sinopharm for the union level in upazilas, said Dr Rabbi.
Some 4,53,760 people in Chattogram took the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. As many as 1,05,425 people who took the first dose have been waiting for their second doses as many have already passed four months since taking the first doses.
Read: Covid kills 218 more in Bangladesh as its catastrophe continues
Earlier, Chattogram received 1,84,000 doses of Sinopharm and Moderna vaccine on July 11 and 1,85,000 doses on July 28.
During the last week, Bangladesh administered around 307,614 doses on average a day. At that pace, it will take 107 more days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population here.
So far, since the inauguration of mass inoculation in Bangladesh on February 7 this year, some 4,416,131 people have fully been vaccinated with two shots while 10,009,953 have received the first doses, says the DG of the DGHS.
CTG mayor vows to resist building of hospital in CRB area
The mayor of Chattogram on Tuesday vowed to resist the planned construction of a hospital in Chattogram Railway Building (CRB) area, considered the port city’s hub of natural oxygen.
Mayor of Chattogram City Corporation Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury said this while exchanging views with members of Nagarik Samaj which has been protesting against the building a hospital at CRB area under a public-private partnership between the government and the United Hospital.
“We shall not allow construction of any structure, not only the hospital,” the mayor declared.
He said CRB, surrounded by hills and hundreds of trees, is a government-declared cultural heritage. “Any structure that destroys its natural beauty and damage the environment will be allowed here,” said the mayor expressing his solidarity with the protesters.
“The move to build a hospital in CRB is a part of an evil motive which will not be tolerated,” stated Mayor Rezaul adding “We all want hospitals but not in CRB.”
Read: Ctg lawyer files case seeking ban on building hospital at CRB
If the railway authority doesn’t allow any other land for building the hospital CCC is ready to provide land, he said.
Vice-Chancellor of Chattogram University, Prof. Dr Shirin Akter said the area is sacred as Liberation War martyr student leader Abdur Rab and many other martyrs were buried in CRB.
Building any kind of commercial establishment in the CRB will be like dishonouring the memory of the martyrs, she said.
The idea to build a hospital under Private Public Partnership in CRB was first broached at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on August 14, 2013.
But the project was finally approved in February 2020.
However, residents of the Port City got a rude shock when they came to learn about it on a signboard that appeared at the intended site some weeks ago.
The shock soon turned into a movement against the hospital planned at CRB, and it has kept gaining momentum.
On July 17, they held rallies, a tree plantation program, formed a human chain and even engaged in other forms of protests all day.
A legal notice was sent to concerned individuals including the Cabinet Secretary, Secretary of the Ministry of Railways, Director General of Bangladesh Railways and a few others by the Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation’ on behalf of the protestors to remove the hospital site elsewhere.
Covid: 10 more die in Chattogram
Ten more people have died of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours in Chattogram, officials said on Tuesday morning.
Read:Dengue alert: CU survey team finds Aedes larvae at 15 spots in Chattogram
Of the deceased, four were from the city and the remaining six belonged to different upazilas.
During this period, 1,273 more people tested positive for Covid-19 in the district, according to the officials.
A total of 3,450 samples were tested at nine public and private labs and various antigen booths in Chattogram.
Read: First case of black fungus reported in Chattogram
So far, 85,144 people have been identified with Covid-19 of which, 994 people died in the district.
Dengue alert: CU survey team finds Aedes larvae at 15 spots in Chattogram
A survey team of Chittagong University has detected Aedes mosquito larvae at 15 spots of the port city after examining samples collected from 99 localities and suggested spraying mosquito repellant medicines to eradicate Aedes.
Chittagong University Proctor Dr. Rabiul Hasan Bhuiyan, the convener of the research team, disclosed it to UNB on Sunday night, although the official results of the survey which started on July 5 are yet to be released.
Read: Dengue control room to function from tomorrow: DSCC
Dr. Rabiul, however, refused to name the places where the larvae were found before the official submission of the survey report to City Corporation authorities.
“We’ve also examined the effectiveness of different medicines on the Aedes mosquitoes. In our report, we’ll provide an overall strategy on how to make anti-mosquito drives more effective,” he added.
Chattogram City Corporation authorities said they will receive the survey report on Monday (Aug 2) and an all-out mosquito eradication drive will be initiated based on that.
Read Dengue vs. COVID-19: Symptoms, when & where to test, ways of prevention
Landslides hit Chattogram, no casualties reported
Although heavy downpours unleashed landslides in the hills of Lalkhan Bazar and Ambagan Floorpass of Chattogram city Thursday, no casualties were reported.
However, steady rains in various parts of the port city and resulting landslides obstructed traffic on several roads.
Following the incidents, the district administration relocated five families from the affected areas and cleared the debris.
Chattogram Deputy Commissioner Mominur Rahman said, "The district administration and the Fire Service and Civil Defence officials visited the spots and are taking stock of the situation."
"Amid concerns about more landslides, the district administration has taken steps to relocate people from the risky areas," Mominur added.
Read: 5 of a family killed in Cox’s Bazar landslide
On Wednesday night, more than 400 people living in the hills of Chattogram city were shifted as steady rains continued.
The landslide concerns caused the district administration to immediately relocate the families living in the hills of Lalkhan Bazar, Motijharna, Batali Hill, Akbar Shah, Hill-1, Hill-2 and Bayezid Link Road in the wake of heavy monsoon rain for the last few days.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department forecast nearly 570mm of accumulated rainfall between July 27-30 and issued warnings of heavy rain and risk of landslides in some hilly regions of Chattogram division.
Hilly areas of Chattogram are especially vulnerable to landslides because of widespread deforestation in the hills. On Tuesday, seven people were killed, including five Rohingyas, in landslides triggered by over 20 hours of rain from Monday onwards.
Read: Landslide kills 5 at Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camp
Environmentalists say the number of people living at risk in the hills of Chattogram is around 1 lakh. From 2007 to 2020, more than 200 people lost their lives in landslides in Chattogram.
The highest landslide fatalities occurred in 2007 when 127 people died on June 11. Besides, 30 people were killed in a 2017 landslide.