Violent clashes between students and police continued, with protesters setting fire to the headquarters of Bangladesh’s national broadcaster, authorities said.
A post on BTV’s official Facebook page warned that “many people” were trapped inside the building in Dhaka and called on the fire service to help put out the blaze.
Bangladesh’s information minister told the BBC that broadcasts had been stopped and most staff had left the capital building.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared online the night before to appeal for calm after days of violent protests that left at least 17 people dead, possibly more, and hundreds injured.
Students have been holding rallies demanding changes to a system that reserves one-third of public sector jobs for relatives of veterans of Pakistan’s 1971 war of independence.
Students believe that the system is discriminatory and demand merit-based recruitment.
The government has been trying to quell the protests, shutting down the country’s mobile internet on Thursday in an attempt to slow down students.
According to AFP, this day turned out to be the deadliest day to date. A total of 32 people died during the protests, most of them on Thursday, according to hospital statistics.
The BBC Bengali service has so far confirmed the deaths of 17 people, including a 32-year-old Dhaka Times reporter.
Sheikh Hasina denounced the protesters’ deaths as “murder” in a television appearance on Wednesday, but her comments were largely dismissed by protest organizers.
On Thursday, police used tear gas and rubber bullets as students formed human walls in the streets.
Students who stormed Beijing TV earlier “burned down” a police station, according to a Beijing TV official.
“The police chased them as they took refuge at the BTV offices,” the official told AFP. “The angry protesters then caused chaos here.”
Bangladesh Information Minister Mohammad Ali Arafat told the BBC that employees still inside the building “feel very unsafe”.
“them [protesters] Go in and destroy,” he said.
“The security forces are all in place, but… they are physically present and they are not trying to mount any counterattack.
“But they’re going to do it now, they’re going to warn everyone, and then they’re going to clean it up.”
