One bomb shatters 3 families

The window was shut when Ali Hussain was driving the truck home. It was dark outside. But all of a sudden, an object broke through the window glass and the whole cabin went up in flames in no time.

"I don't know who they were. They came from the darkness and hurled the bomb at us," Ali said, lying in a bed at Chittagong Medical College Hospital. "We didn't see their faces. We just heard the sound of the glass getting shattered and then saw the fire."

There were three of them inside the cabin. Ali jumped off instantly but could not escape the blaze. It scalded his forehead, face, hands and chest. 

The 44-year-old and two of his helpers were returning to their village at Rangunia upazila in Chittagong after unloading sand in the port city Monday night. They came under the petrol bomb attack at Mohajan Battal around 9:30pm on Tuesday.

"I don't know what my fault was. Why did they burn us? We live hand to mouth," Ali asked. "How long could we stay at home without work? Who will run our families? How will we feed our children?"

Ali had eight stitches in the forehead, suffered inhalation injuries, and his legs were swollen. Living in Rangunia, he is the only earning person of his five-member family.

With 20 percent burns, Ali's assistant Md Selim, 42, lay unconscious nearby. His face, chest and hands were wounded.

Attending him at the burn unit, Ruma Akter, his daughter, said, "All I see is darkness. How will we pay for his treatment?

Of the five members of the family, only Selim earns.

Another helper, Md Dulal, 55, sustained 15 percent burns, covering his face, hands and chest. He supports a six-member family with his income.

Dr Mishma Islam, a medical officer of the unit, said none of the three was out of danger. "As all had burns in the face, their condition is critical," she said.

Md Yusuf, nephew of Dulal, said the blockaders did not hold processions or rallies. "They only attack innocent commuters and transport workers in the dark of the night."

However, none has been arrested over Tuesday night's attack, said Rangunia police. "We could not identify the criminals yet," he said. "We are trying to get them."