3 family members critically injured in suspected crude bomb explosion in Barishal
In a Nutshell:
- A suspected crude bomb exploded at Shah Alam Howlader’s house in Dudhlamou village around 6am on 3 August.
- Shah Alam’s wife Hanufa Begum, daughter Eti, and grandson Fahim were critically injured in the blast.
- Police collected evidence from the scene and launched an investigation to identify the type of explosive and those responsible for it.
- The victims were taken to Sher e Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barishal for advanced treatment.
Why it matters
The Barishal explosion is the first of the recent bomb related incidents to seriously injure civilians, leaving three members of a family critically hurt. After DMP recovered an IED beneath Motijheel Metro Station and another device containing chemical explosives and ball bearings was found in Ashulia, they should have carried out wider searches, strengthened security measures, and taken greater steps to identify whether more explosives were present elsewhere before it got to the point where a blast severely hurt civilians.
What we think
Authorities cannot wait for bombs to explode before treating the threat seriously. The repeated discovery of explosive devices suggests a bigger failure in tracking who is making, storing, and moving these weapons. After the Motijheel and Ashulia recoveries, police should have treated the incidents as possible signs of a wider threat and pushed harder to identify where other explosives might be stored. The Barishal blast shows that the cost of a delayed or limited response can fall on ordinary families who have no connection to these threats.
