A group of journalists from the English daily The Daily Star were trapped on the rooftop of the newspaper’s Farmgate office for nearly three hours after the building was attacked, vandalized, and set on fire late Thursday night amid unrest following the death of Osman Hadi. The incident unfolded shortly after reports of vandalism and arson at the Prothom Alo office in Karwan Bazar.
According to a journalist who spoke to bdnews24.com, newsroom staff were alerted around 12:45 AM that a mob was advancing toward the Daily Star building. When staff attempted to evacuate, the attackers had already reached the ground floor, where they began vandalizing the premises and setting fire, filling the stairways with smoke. Unable to descend safely, 28 journalists moved to the tenth-floor rooftop.
During the standoff, a canteen worker attempted to escape using the external fire escape ladder but was reportedly beaten by members of the mob after reaching the ground. Following this, no one else attempted to descend that way. Fire service personnel later arrived, extinguished the fire on the ground floor, and four firefighters went up to the rooftop to assist. However, as vandalism continued below, evacuation was initially halted, and the rooftop door was closed.
Panic intensified when some attackers reached the rooftop area and began banging on the door. Journalists and firefighters barricaded the entrance using items available on the rooftop. During this time, Editors’ Council president Nurul Kabir and photographer Shahidul Alam went to the ground floor in an attempt to calm the attackers, but Nurul Kabir was subjected to harassment.
Later, army personnel stationed at the site left one of the staircases open, after which attackers moved upstairs and continued vandalizing and looting. Eventually, Daily Star staff trapped on the rooftop and inside the building were brought down through the fire escape and escorted out through the rear of the building. The evacuation was completed at around 3:45 AM. No casualties were reported.
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