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On October 15, 1985, the ceiling of a room in the Jagannath Hall of Dhaka University collapsed, killing 40 people. The collapsed building became known as ‘Parishad Bhavan or Assembly Hall’. The auditorium, over a hundred years old, was then the parliament building or parliament building in the province of East Pakistan, for which it was famous as the assembly hall or council building. Later, when the new council building was constructed, the building was handed over to the University of Dhaka.
It was then used as a television room for Jagannath Hall until the tragic incident on October 15, 1975. The roof of the building collapsed in heavy rain that night, killing at least 40 people and injuring more than a hundred. .
According to eyewitness accounts of the tragic incident
Swapan Kumar Dey, the current president of the Jagannath Hall Employees Welfare Association, was inside the TV room that day. And his father worked as a gardener at Jagannath Hall. According to that source, his family lived in the area.
It has rained a lot since that afternoon. It was raining a lot at the time of the accident. Swapan Kumar Dey estimated that there were between one and a half and two hundred people in the room at the time. However, it was also mentioned that the number of people present in the documents published the next day and in the writings of various writers about the incident was 300 to 400. At that time the depression was occurring in the south of the Bay of Bengal. Heavy rain and wind were blowing in Dhaka.
‘At 8:30 pm, a person named Shukatara was walking. As the drama progresses, it suddenly appears that sand dust falls on the head from the ceiling. I heard loud noises before I understood anything, and realized that I had been lifted into the air from two directions. After a while, I opened my eyes and saw that he was behind the TV with some others.
Just before the roof collapsed, two students grabbed me from both sides and led me to the back of the television. Many of those sitting on the bench were able to take refuge at the last minute.
After getting used to it, the words ‘Babare, Ma’go, Bachao’ came from everywhere. It was not yet in my head whether people died in the accident or not. I ran out of there like crazy.
Newspapers at the time reported that 34 people died instantly. Five more died later during treatment.
Exactly how many people were injured in the Jagannath Hall building collapse, exact figures are not available. However, newspaper reports said that more than a hundred people were injured. An investigation by the university later said the accident occurred when the dilapidated old building collapsed due to excessive rain.
After the building collapsed, the entire building was demolished. Later, a new Jagannath Hall dormitory called “October Smriti Bhavan” was built in the same location. October 15 has been celebrated as ‘Dhaka University Day of Mourning’ since the year after the incident.
Source: BBC
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