MADARIPUR — Four female students were injured, one critically, when a tennis ball-like object they were playing with exploded at a madrasa in Bangladesh’s Madaripur district on Saturday morning. Police suspect the object was a hand bomb and are investigating how it came to be on the premises.
The explosion occurred at Gopalpur Darussunnah Women’s Madrasa in Kalkini municipality as students were arriving for classes.
Police and local residents said several students found the tennis ball-like object near the residence of Imon Sardar inside the madrasa compound. Unaware that it could be an explosive device, they began playing with it before it suddenly exploded.
The blast injured four students and caused panic in the surrounding area. Local residents rescued the girls and took them to Madaripur District Hospital.
One of the injured, Abida Akter, was later transferred to Dhaka for advanced treatment after her condition deteriorated. Details of her injuries were not immediately available, while authorities had yet to disclose the identities and conditions of the other three students.
Madaripur Additional Superintendent of Police Fariha Rafiq Bhabna said Kalkini police visited the scene after being informed of the explosion.
“We are investigating how the object got there and where it came from,” Bhabna said Saturday while discussing the preliminary investigation.
She said police, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and intelligence agencies had deployed personnel to the scene.
“Police, RAB and members of the intelligence agencies have been deployed at the scene,” she said.
No arrests had been announced, and authorities had not identified anyone suspected of leaving the explosive at the madrasa.
Investigators are now working to determine the nature and origin of the explosive and how it ended up in an area accessible to students.
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