August 8, 2024
JAKARTA – An Indonesian citizen has died in Jashore as a result of the massive riots and antigovernment protests in Bangladesh, the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta said on Tuesday.
The person, identified only by their initials DU, was staying in a hotel which caught fire on Monday during the riots, and later died after having inhaled too much smoke. DU had arrived in Bangladesh last week for a business trip.
The ministry has contacted DU’s family in Indonesia and is working to repatriate the body, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The Foreign Ministry and the Indonesian Embassy in Dhaka reiterate our appeal for Indonesian citizens to increase vigilance, avoid crowds and areas where demonstration takes place and follow the contingency steps directed by the embassy,” the ministry said.
Frenzied uproar has reigned over Bangladesh since the beginning of the week, as millions of demonstrators flooded Dhaka’s streets to storm the parliament, prime minister’s office and other government institutions. Longtime ruler Sheikh Hasina, who has held the country’s top job since 2009, fled on Tuesday in a helicopter as the Bangladesh military took on the role of caretaker government.
According to an AFP tally on Sunday, at least 300 people have died during the protests.
Data from the Foreign Ministry show that there were at least 577 Indonesian nationals living in Bangladesh at the start of the riots, and that the embassy in Dhaka has prepared a safe house for its citizens in case the situation worsens.
Indonesia advises its citizens not to travel to Bangladesh until the situation improves.