Bangladesh police shoot dead five workers protesting at China-backed power plant
- The employees were protesting over unpaid wages and working hours at the SS Power One plant in Banshkhali
- Police said about 2,000 protesters threw rocks and bricks at the force, who responded with gunfire
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Police started shooting after workers became violent, said Saiduzzman Chowdhury, government administrator in the southern coastal town of Banshkhali.
They were protesting over unpaid wages, working hours and alleged discrimination.
Azizul Islam, Banshkhali police chief, said about 2,000 protesters threw rocks and bricks at police, who responded with gunfire.
Power plant construction delayed after clashes between Chinese and Bangladeshi workers
The 2.5 billion-dollar, 1,200-megawatt coal power plant, 30 per cent owned by Chinese engineering giant SEPCOIII, has been at the centre of other deadly protests in recent years.
Police opened fire on a protest by villagers in 2016, when four people were killed.
One man was killed in 2017 when police fired shots at a rally.
Four bodies with bullet wounds were taken from the latest protests to Banshkhali’s main hospital, a doctor there said, adding that 12 others were being treated for wounds.
Police confirmed a fifth victim and 19 injured, including three police, were taken to a hospital in Chittagong.
Move over, ‘Made in China’. It’s the ‘Made in Bangladesh’ era now
Rights activists say the SS Power One plant, 70 per cent owned by the S. Alam Group, does not meet environmental impact standards and was built without public consultation.
S. Alam executive director Subrata Kumar Bhowmick said the plant was 40 per cent finished and about 3,000 construction workers were employed there.
Two company officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a Chinese contractor employed the workers.
