DHAKA, 29 August 2006 — Thousands of protesters in northern Bangladesh went on a rampage yesterday torching buildings linked to a British coalmining firm after the fatal shooting of at least five people protesting against an open-pit mine in the region, police and witnesses said.
Police said the mob set fire to the home of an official employed by London-based Asia Energy Plc which is developing a coal deposit north of the capital and plans to invest $1.4 billion in the project.
Witnesses told AFP they saw at least four more buildings ablaze in the small town of Phulbari, 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of Dhaka.
The company’s information center and the temporary residence of one of its geologists had been ransacked and furniture dragged outside and set alight, they said.
“The protesters have completely gone out of control. They set fire to one Asia Energy official’s house in Phulbari town. It is complete chaos out there. The mob is raiding homes of people who had earlier collaborated with the company,” said local police chief Fazlul Haq.
Haq said around 20,000 demonstrators were protesting on the streets of the town yesterday. More than 300 troops were on guard at the Asia Energy office.
The company had withdrawn all its officials from the Phulbari office and transferred them to a nearby town under police escort, he said. All the company’s employees were said to be safe.
The local administration was holding talks with the protest leaders, said Additional Superintendent of Police Ruhul Amin. He said three homes of people who had worked with Asia Energy had been ransacked.
Protest organizer Khurshid Ali Moti said the demonstrations would continue until the company canceled the open-pit mine project.
