Chittagong, Bangladesh:
At least 5 people today had been shot dead and dozens injured when Bangladesh police opened fire Saturday on demonstrating workers at the building website of a Chinese-financed energy plant, officials stated.
Police began shooting following workers became violent, stated Saiduzzman Chowdhury, government administrator in the southern coastal town of Banshkhali.
They had been protesting more than unpaid wages, working hours and alleged discrimination.
Azizul Islam, Banshkhali police chief, stated about 2,000 protesters threw rocks and bricks at police, who responded with gunfire.
The 2.5 billion-dollar, 1,200-megawatt coal energy plant, 30 % owned by Chinese engineering giant SEPCOIII, has been at the centre of other deadly protests in current years.
Police opened fire on a protest by villagers in 2016, when 4 people today had been killed.
One man was killed in 2017 when police fired shots at a rally.
Four bodies with bullet wounds had been taken from the most current protests to Banshkhali’s key hospital, a physician there stated, adding that 12 other folks had been getting treated for wounds.
Police confirmed a fifth victim and 19 injured, like 3 police, had been taken to a hospital in Chittagong.
Rights activists say the SS Power One plant, 70 % owned by the S. Alam Group, does not meet environmental effect requirements and was constructed with no public consultation.
It is one of the largest investments produced by Chinese corporations in Bangladesh. The deal was one of several announced when President Xi Jinping visited in 2016.
S. Alam executive director Subrata Kumar Bhowmick stated the plant was 40 % completed and about 3,000 building workers had been employed there.
Two firm officials, speaking on situation of anonymity, stated a Chinese contractor employed the workers.
(This story has not been edited by TheSpuzz employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)