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Many public and private hospitals in the capital were overwhelmed treating hundreds of patients with gunshot injuries for the second consecutive day, as law enforcers fired indiscriminately on quota protesters and the ordinary people, and threw sound grenades and tear shells even from helicopters, on Friday.   

Several hospitals reported that they were struggling to handle such overwhelming numbers of gunshot injured, including children, mostly coming from areas including Jatrabari, Rampura, Paltan, Shanirakhra and Mirpur.

Injured and eyewitnesses reported that law enforcers were shooting directly on the people and threw sound grenades and tear gas shells,  even from helicopters and rooftops, on Friday. Several hundred people rushed to the hospitals in search of their children and relatives,       

Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital director Saifur Rahman confirmed conducting about 150 operations at the hospital on the weekend, saying ‘We are overwhelmed with the stream of injured people.’

Till 9:00pm, about 400 patients sought treatment with various injuries, mostly gunshot injuries, and at least 10 bodies were brought, the director said.

Sir Salimullah Medical College Mitford Hospital ward master Md Sazzad said that 33 gunshot injured people and four dead bodies were brought to the hospital till 9:00pm, starting after 2:00pm. 

‘The situation seems very grave. All were bullet-hit injured,’ he added.

Md Rubel, deputy general manager of Farazi General Hospital at Malibagh at about 9:00pm reported receiving 10 injured and more than 400 patients on the day.  

The Dhaka Medical College Hospital emergency department was flooded with the gunshot injured and dead bodies on the day.

Later, the BGB took position in the DMCH at about 5:00pm to ‘maintain security of the hospital’.

The hospital received at least 400 injured and of them 35 died till 10:45pm.  

An emergency doctor of the hospital said that the hospital was struggling to accommodate such overwhelming numbers of patients as the hospital was receiving patients in every other few minutes.

There was a crisis of stretchers and wheelchairs to carry critical patients.

DMCH corridors were seen turned red with blood of the injured and the air was filled with cries, anger and helplessness of the injured and their friends, relatives and local people carrying the injured.

Brains of several bodies were seen burst out of their skulls. 

A six-year-old boy named Musa was hit by bullets in the head at the garage of his house at Rampura.

His mother, Nisha, said that the gate was locked.

Md Masud Rana, nephew of a 40-year-old private banker Dulal Mahmud, who died on Friday after being shot in Azimpur Colony, said that the police shot at him entering his house.

‘Why are they killing the ordinary people entering their house premises? What is our fault?’ asked Masud.

Parents of 16-years-old Badhon were seen crying in the hospital corridor after they heard that their son died.

They, however, later found that the boy was not their son, and started searching their son again with a new hope. 

Several pedestrians were reported to have been shot while returning home in their respective areas after Jumma prayers. 

Several relatives were seen waiting outside the DMCH morgue to have the dead bodies, as a relative of deceased Saiful, who died on Thursday night, said at about 2:00pm on Friday that the Lalbagh police did not provide required documents saying there were no police members in the station. 

Hospitals, including Enam Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh-Kuwait Friendship Hospital, Mughdha Medical College Hospital and Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospitals, also reported receiving several hundreds of injured, mostly with gunshots, and dead bodies.  

On July 15, the ruling Awami League-backed Bangladesh Chhatra League attacked quota protesters on the Dhaka University campus and in other places leaving about 400 injured, triggering anger and anguish.

The protesters begun their protest on July 1 following a High Court order on June 5 that asked the government to restore 30 per cent quotas for descendants of freedom fighters in public services,  .

Clashes erupted on July 16 as students and protesters under the platform Anti-discrimination Student Movement returned to the streets, in some places ready to fight back if attacked, leaving six people killed on the day and the number of the injured and deaths kept rising till Friday night.