Bangladesh

DHAKA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Little new evidence has emerged in the ongoing investigation into the origins of COVID-19 by the U.S. government, United News of Bangladesh has recently reported, citing a CNN story.

"Current intelligence reinforces the belief that the virus most likely originated naturally, from animal-human contact and was not deliberately engineered," reported CNN, quoting sources.

White House Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci has recently said that he believes the natural origins theory of the novel coronavirus is still "the most likely."

DHAKA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh has received two new commercial batches of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, boosting the country's inoculation drive.

According to a handout of the country's Health and Family Welfare Ministry, one batch of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at around 11:00 p.m. local time Saturday while the other batch arrived at around 3:00 a.m. local time on Sunday.

As part of a commercial deal, Bangladesh had earlier received two batches of Sinopharm vaccine.

11 July 2021; AA: A record of 60 coronavirus cases were confirmed in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh on Sunday, according to official data.

The new infections pushed the overall caseload among the persecuted minority community from Myanmar camped in Cox's Bazar to 2,040, including 21 related deaths, the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner said.

As many as 831 refugees are under quarantine, 146 of whom were put under isolation in the last 24 hours.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Police in Bangladesh arrested eight people Saturday on murder charges in connection with a factory fire that killed at least 52 people, many of whom were trapped inside by an illegally locked door, a police official said.

The blaze began Thursday night at the five-story Hashem Foods Ltd. factory in Rupganj, just outside the capital Dhaka, sending huge clouds of black smoke billowing into the sky. Police discovered piles of bodies Friday afternoon after the fire was extinguished.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh TV stations say at least 49 people have died in a fire that broke out at a food and beverage factory outside the country’s capital.

A fire service official, Russel Shikder, confirmed that a fire began Thursday night at the five-story Hashem Food and Beverage Ltd. factory in Rupganj, just outside Dhaka. He said additional details were not yet clear.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — In a state-run hospital near Bangladesh’s border with India, Shahinul Islam prays his father does not become one of the facility’s more than 300 patients who’ve died this month from the coronavirus.

Hundreds like his father are struggling to breathe in the COVID-19 treatment unit, while Islam waits in an emergency room packed with people. Relatives rush in and out, desperately trying to find oxygen cylinders for their loved ones.

DHAKA, June 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Bangladeshi authorities have launched an investigation into a deadly explosion that killed seven people in Dhaka, officials said.

The Sunday blast, believed to have been caused by accumulated cooking gas at a four-storey building that housed shops, showrooms and private offices in the Bangladeshi capital’s central Maghbazar district, left dozens of others wounded.

The explosion also damaged three city buses carrying passengers by the building at the time and seven adjoining buildings.

Dhaka, Jun 28 (PTI) A powerful explosion that destroyed an old three-storey building in a crowded area here in Bangladesh's capital and killed at least seven people and injured around 400 others may have been caused by a faulty gas line or gas cylinders, authorities said on Monday.

Police have ruled out any foul play behind the horrific explosion in Moghbazar area at around 7.30 PM on Sunday and said the initial investigation of the site suggests that the explosion might have been caused by "gas accumulation".

DHAKA, Jun 23 (NNN-BSS) – Bangladeshi Foreign Minister, AK Abdul Momen, criticised the hoarding of COVID-19 vaccines by wealthy nations.

Even the rich nations are putting conditions for supplying vaccines to other countries, Momen told journalists, at his office in Dhaka yesterday, after a weeklong visit to the United States.

Without naming any country or the conditions, he said, “They’re seeking this or that in return.”

He further said, “Nothing should be tied to COVID-19 vaccines.”

DHAKA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh resumed administering the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in parts of the country on Saturday thanks to the China-donated Sinopharm vaccines.

Those who already registered but have not received their first shots will get priority for vaccination, which resumed in 67 centers across the country, a notice issued by the country's health directorate said.