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Death toll rises to 17 in blockade violence in northern Bangladesh

Xinhua, January 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

With the death of four more people Wednesday, the number of deaths reached 17 on the ninth day of the opposition-led indefinite blockade in Bangladesh.

Four people were burnt alive, including a child, in blockade violence in Mithapukur of Bangladesh's northern Rangpur district early Wednesday, police said.

Rabiul Alam, a police officer of Mithapukur, told Xinhua by phone that blockade supporters torched a bus bound for Dhaka carrying about 40 passengers early Wednesday, killing four people and wounding 11 others.

The injured passengers have been admitted to Rangpur Medical College Hospital.

Two people were killed in blockade violence on Tuesday when pro- blockade protesters torched vehicles in different places.

The indefinite blockage, called by the ex-Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e- Islami party, demands the Awami League-led government to call mid- term polls as the BNP leader says the government was not elected by the people.

But the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says election will not be held before 2019. Endi