<\/p>\n
Polling booths were set ablaze in Bangladesh on the eve of Sunday\u2019s general elections, while four people, two children among them, were killed in a train fire that the government decried as arson targeting democratic values.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s fire broke out at about 9pm, injuring eight passengers as it spread to four compartments of the Benapole Express headed for the capital, Dhaka, at a time when the main opposition party is boycotting the elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe timing of this tragedy, just a day before the election<\/a> \u2026 shows an absolute intention to hinder the festivity, safety and security of the democratic processes of the country,\u201d Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis reprehensible incident, undoubtedly orchestrated by those with malicious intent, strikes at the very heart of our democratic values,\u201d he added in a statement, vowing that authorities would bring the perpetrators to justice.<\/p>\n The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has asked people in the South Asian nation to shun the poll and called a two-day strike nationwide from Saturday.<\/p>\n The eight people critically injured in the blaze are being treated in hospital, officials said.<\/p>\n \u201cAll eight, including two children, have burnt their respiratory tracts,\u201d said Dr Samanta Lal Sen of a state-run specialist burn hospital in the capital.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are closely monitoring them,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n Seven firefighting teams took an hour to subdue the fire in Dhaka\u2019s area of Wari, fire official Shahjahan Sikder said.<\/p>\n Second boycott in three elections<\/h2>\n