At least five people were killed and dozens injured in Bangladesh on Saturday after police opened fire on a crowd of workers protesting for unpaid wages and a pay rise at a Chinese-backed power plant, officials and police said. .
Police opened fire after about 2,000 protesters began throwing bricks and stones at officers at the construction site of the southeastern Chittagong Coal Plant, local police officials told Reuters. Azizul Islam.
Four protesters died at the scene and another died at the hospital, he said.
“We are trying to control the situation,” Islam said, adding that at least six police officers were among the injured.
Workers attacked and set fire to several structures at the 1,320-megawatt power plant, located 265 km (165 miles) southeast of the capital, Dhaka, he added.
Local government official Saiduzzaman Chowdhury said workers were protesting unpaid wages and demanding a pay rise and a reduction in hours during the holy month of Ramadan, which began this week, when Muslims fasted since the sunrise until sunset.
Several of the injured workers had gunshot wounds and were taken to a Chittagong hospital, he said, adding that the five people who died had been shot.
The $ 2.4 billion power plant is a major source of foreign investment in Bangladesh, and one of the projects Beijing is pushing to cultivate more ties with Dhaka.
In 2016, Chinese company SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction signed an agreement with S Alam Group, a Bangladeshi conglomerate responsible for site construction work.
During that year, four protesters opposed to its construction were killed when police opened fire during clashes between villagers protesting for and against the project.
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