DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Sheikh Hasina’s departure appears to have defused the high tension in Dhaka, where more deadly protests were feared on Monday.
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and fled the country in the face of ongoing protests.
The longtime leader of the country has boarded a military helicopter, an aide told Al Jazeera, after crowds ignored a national curfew to storm the prime minister’s palace in Dhaka on Monday.
Close to 300 people have died amid weeks of protest the authorities have sought to crush. Following a night of deadly violence that killed close to 100 on Sunday, tension had remained high on Monday as protesters called for a march on Dhaka and the army prepared to address the nation.
By early afternoon, however, media reported that the mood on the streets had turned to one of celebration after the news of Hasina’s departure spread.
In an address to the nation, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, the Chief of Army Staff, urged citizens to keep trust in the army, which would return peace to the country.
“We will investigate all killings that have happened over the past few weeks,” he said, confirming that the prime minister has resigned and that an interim goverment will now run the country. He said he is now set to meet the president.
Images on national television showed thousands of people breaking into the prime minister’s official residence. It also showed large crowds of protesters out in the street in scenes of jubilation as the news of the departure of Hasina started spreading.
Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from Shahbag Square – the epicentre of the student protesters – said he has “never witnessed something like this” in the capital.
“Students and families with their children out celebrating, checking if she has either left the country or resigned,” Chowdhury said. “The government has most likely fallen, and the army will decide what the next step is, which is probably an interim government,” he added.
