At least 4 dead in train fire ahead of Bangladesh election

At least four people have died and several others were injured after a suspicious fire broke out on a passenger train in Bangladesh, police said. Friday's incident added to the tense atmosphere ahead of Sunday's election, which the opposition is trying to disrupt through boycotts and general strikes.

Firefighter Rakjibul Hasan said at least four carriages caught fire on the Benapole Express, which arrived in the capital Dhaka from the western city of Jessore at 21:00 (15:00 GMT). The fire quickly engulfed the train.

According to Khandaker Al Moin, a police officer who responded to the emergency response team at the scene, residents initially tried to put out the fire, but seven fire engines joined the firefighting effort. According to him, it took almost two hours to extinguish the fire.

Dhaka City Police Deputy Commissioner Mohid Uddin described the incident as a planned sabotage aimed at terrorizing citizens ahead of the elections. "We will ensure that we identify the criminals involved in such heinous attacks," Uddin said.

"We suspect the fire was an act of sabotage," police chief Anwar Hossain told AFP. A rescuer who spoke on the condition of anonymity told private channel Somoi TV that hundreds of people rushed to rescue people from the burning train.

"I saved a lot of people. But the fire spread quickly," he said. According to Somoy TV, some Indian nationals also traveled by train. election-related violence

Election-related violence has been common in Bangladesh, and Sunday's election took place amid a polarized political culture led by two strong women: current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the now-imprisoned opposition leader home.

This year, the BNP decided to boycott the elections after Hasina Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) rejected its request to hold elections for a neutral caretaker government. Moreover, at least three people have been killed in violence sparked by political clashes since the start of the official election campaign on 18 December.

The campaign officially ended on Friday morning, but there is widespread speculation that the vote, which could have won Hasina a fourth or fifth consecutive general election, was rigged. The international community has expressed concern about the conduct of these elections.

Charles Whiteley, the EU ambassador to Bangladesh, said in a letter to Bangladesh's election commission that "Bangladesh will not send a full observation team because it is not clear enough whether the necessary conditions will be met."

"We are closely monitoring the process and hope that all elections will be held in an open and orderly manner," Florencia Soto Nino, deputy spokeswoman for the UN secretary-general, said in New York on Wednesday.

At a key election rally held in Fatulla near Dhaka on Thursday, Hasina appealed to everyone to maintain peace. The Electoral Commission said on Sunday that elections will be held in 299 out of 300 constituencies across the country.