23 Dead, 50 Injured in Bangladesh Clothing Stampede

At least 23 people died Friday when hundreds of eager shoppers rushed through gates at a free clothing giveaway in Mymensingh city in northern Bangladesh, causing a stampede with multiple fatalities and over 50 injuries.

The stampede reportedly occurred Friday morning before dawn as about 1,500 eager shoppers gathered outside of a tobacco factory building in Mymensingh to collect free clothing that was being given away by the factory owners as a charitable contribution.

The owners of the tobacco factory reportedly participate in a clothing distribution event every year following the end of Ramadan. According to BBC, wealthy Bangladeshi families often donate their clothes to the poor during the Holy month of Ramadan.

"Most of the dead are poor and emaciated women," Mymensingh police chief Moinul Haque told the AFP in a recent interview.

Local officials report that mostly women and the elderly were killed in the early morning stampede.

Police have reportedly detained eight people in connection with the stampede, including the owner of the factory where the clothes were distributed and his son.

The owners of the tobacco factory reportedly failed to request police assistance during the clothing giveaway that forced over one thousand people to squeeze through a small gate to receive their clothing.

45-year-old Ambia Begum told the Associated Press that she lost her 60-year-old relative in the stampede.

"Oh Allah, why did I come here? Why?" she reportedly cried as her relative was taken away.