Month: August 2022

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Repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar ultimate solution: S Korea

South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun on Wednesday said the repatriation of the Rohingyas to their homeland with safety and dignity is the ultimate solution to the crisis.

“This (repatriation) should happen as early as possible,” he said, adding that South Korea has been working very closely with the international community, especially through international agencies to help resolve the Rohingya crisis as soon as possible.

While responding to a question at the “DCAB Talk” the ambassador said it is not just Bangladesh’s issue, rather it is a regional, also an international issue.

The South Korean envoy said it is one of the biggest global challenges today and they fully agree with those who believe that voluntary, dignified and sustainable repatriation of the Rohingyas to their homes in Rakhine is the ultimate solution.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas to Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char Island.

Ambassador Lee said it is not just a humanitarian crisis but also a human rights issue and they are providing humanitarian support to the Rohingyas and the host communities.

Responding to a question, the ambassador said South Korea has never abstained from voting when it comes to clearing any resolution in the UN Human Rights Council.

“We also cosponsored some of the resolutions,” he said, adding that they will continue to work with the government of Bangladesh and the international community to find the solution to the Rohingya crisis.

South Korea announced its plan to provide US$ 3.2 million in 2022 to support humanitarian assistance for the Rohingyas and their host communities in Bangladesh.

This year’s humanitarian assistance will be provided through international organizations such as UNHCR, IOM, WFP, UNICEF and IFRC operating in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char.

Some portion of this year’s funding will be allocated to the refugees in Bhasan Char for the second year in a row.

South Korea has supported UN agencies’ operation in Bhasan Char since the inception of the relocation to the island in 2021.

A fair portion of this year’s assistance has been allocated to support host communities in Cox’s Bazar which were directly impacted by the refugee influx five years ago.

Since 2017, the government of South Korea has continued to provide US$ 4 to US$5 million annually to the Rohingyas and their host communities in Bangladesh in close cooperation with the Bangladesh government and international organizations, said the ambassador.

Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) organized the event at Jatiya Press Club (JPC). DCAB President Rezaul Karim Lotus and its General Secretary AKM Moinuddin also spoke.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

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Mass Media bill goes back to JS committee for second time

Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Information and Broadcast Ministry on Tuesday got another 60 days to examine and amend the much-debated Mass Media Employees (Services Conditions) Bill 2022.

Chairman of the Committee Hasanul Huq Inu sought the time extension in Parliament and the House unanimously approved the proposal.

Earlier on June 6, the same parliamentary committee was given 60 days to examine the Bill and report back to the House.

On March 28 of this year, Information and Broadcast Minister Hasan Mahmud placed the Bill and it was sent to the parliamentary standing committee for scrutiny of the proposed law.

According to a source, the Standing Committee did not sit for a meeting till now.

Earlier on June 16, Inu told media that the parliamentary body will sit with different stakeholders before finalizing the “Mass Media Employees (Services Conditions) Bill.”

Various journalists organisations and owners association, Transparency International Bangladesh have seriously opposed various sections of the proposed law.

The Editors’ Council (Sampadak Parishad) has said the space for independent media will shrink further if the proposed bill is passed by parliament.

The wages and benefits of journalists, employees and press workers, artists of broadcast, online, and print media outlets would be fixed under the proposed law.

As per the bill, journalists will be regarded as media professionals, not as workers.

The wage board will be applicable for journalists and employees of all the media outlets, including print and electronic, as per the Bill.

According to the Bill, the minimum working hours for media employees will be 48 hours in a week, while the casual leave will be 15 days instead of 10 days and the earned leave will be 100 days instead of 60 days annually.

If anybody works beyond the stipulated time, he or she will be entitled to overtime pay.

Besides, the festival leave will be 10 days in a year, recreation leave will be 15 days after every three years, and the maternity leave will be six months in place of the existing eight weeks.

If anyone or organisation violates the provisions of the Bill, s/he will be fined Tk 50,000-Tk 5 lakh.

The government will be able to cancel the licences or registration of the media. The owners of media outlets will also face punishment for violation of the law.

If anyone or any organisation violates the provisions of the Bill, he/she will face monetary fine or imprisonment, the Cabinet secretary said.

Once the new law is passed in parliament, jobs of media employees will no longer be regulated under the labour law.

Currently, journalists and employees of media houses are regarded as “workers” under the labour law.

Once the law is passed, they will be regarded as media personnel, not workers.

According to the proposed law, a wage board will be formed for the media personnel.

The wage board will fix salaries and allowances of media personnel in line with the salary scale of the government employees and it will be applicable to the owners of all media outlets.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

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Bangladesh, Brunei highlight importance of air, shipping connectivity to boost ties

Bangladesh and Brunei have stressed the importance of facilitating air and shipping connectivity for giving the bilateral trade, investment and people-to-people contact a boost.

The two countries agreed to facilitate a greater collaboration and synergy between the private sectors and entrepreneurs of the two countries to fully harness the untapped potentials.

The issues were discussed at the second Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between Bangladesh and Brunei Darussalam held in Bandar Seri Begawan on Wednesday.

The consultations were co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and Permanent Secretary of Brunei Darussalam Pengiran Norhashimah binti Pengiran Mohd Hassan. Bangladesh High Commissioner Nahida Rahman was present.

The issue of energy cooperation prominently featured in the bilateral discussions in context of the severe supply chain disruptions owing to the volatility and uncertainties caused by the pandemic and conflicts in different parts of the world, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The two sides acknowledged the valuable contribution made by Bangladeshi migrant workers to both the countries.

Expressing optimism for signing the proposed MoU on recruitment of Bangladeshi human resources in Brunei at the earliest, Foreign Secretary Masud underscored the need for a safe, orderly and regular migration.

Flagging the high demographic dividend Bangladesh is currently enjoying, he offered to send more Bangladeshi workers to Brunei for mutual benefit of the two countries.

The Brunei side expressed their keenness for recruiting more Bangladeshi workers in their upcoming mega projects.

During the FOC, the whole spectrum of Bangladesh-Brunei bilateral relations came under discussion including cooperation in areas of migration, trade and commerce, investment, agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and livestock, health, connectivity, defence, energy, education, culture, youth and sport, etc.

Both the sides expressed satisfaction at the existing level of bilateral engagements and reiterated their commitment for continued efforts to further expand the bilateral cooperation for mutual benefit in the days ahead.

Applauding the fruitful and substantial talks, both the sides also agreed on continuing the regular institutional engagement mechanisms to keep up the momentum in bilateral relations.

While sharing Bangladesh’s preparedness for LDC graduation, Foreign Secretary Masud highlighted the tremendous socio-economic development in Bangladesh under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Foreign Secretary requested for continued international support, including from Brunei, for sustaining the development trajectory of Bangladesh in the post-graduation period.

The Permanent Secretary of Brunei highly praised the socio-economic development of Bangladesh and congratulated Bangladesh for successfully qualifying for graduation from an LDC to a developing nation.

Both sides agreed to further explore the potentials for cooperation in the areas of food processing, ICT, ship building, tourism, infrastructure development, pharmaceuticals and jute products etc. Bangladesh sought Bruneian support for developing and promoting the Halal trade sector of Bangladesh.

As the Foreign Secretary highlighted the Rohingya crisis and sought a more proactive Bruneian support for an early repatriation of the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals to their motherland, the Brunei side assured of all possible cooperation in this regard.

Brunei also assured of their support in favour of Bangladesh’s candidacy for ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partnership.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

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Hazaribag slum fire tamed after one hour

The fire that quickly tore through a slum in the capital’s Hazaribag Wednesday was brought under control after nearly one hour, authorities said.

Fortunately, no casualties were reported till the filling of this report.

Earlier, the blaze began at 6:15pm at a slum in Bottola, Md Shahjahan Shikdar, deputy assistant director (media cell) of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said.

On information, ten firefighting units responded to the fire and the responders could tame the flames at 7:30pm.

The reasons for the fire mishap and the extent of damage could not be confirmed immediately, Shahjahan said.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

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BNP’s 44th founding anniversary Thursday

BNP is set to celebrate its 44th founding anniversary across the country on Thursday amid various programmes.

On September 1, 1978, late President Ziaur Rahman founded the party with a 19-point programme to build a self-reliant Bangladesh.

BNP and its associate bodies have taken up various programmes, including rallies and discussions, to mark the day.

As per the programmes, the party flag will be hoisted atop its Nayapaltan central office and all other offices of BNP across the country at 6am on Thursday.

Besides, BNP senior leaders will place wreaths and offer fateha at the grave of its founder Ziaur Rahman at 12pm on the day.

Later, the leaders and activists of the party will take out a rally in front of BNP’s Naypaltan central office at 3pm, marking the day.

The party will also arrange a discussion at 3 pm on Friday (September 2).

BNP’s associate bodies and all their units across the country will mark the day with due respect by holding various programmes, including discussions and rallies.

In its 43 years’ journey, BNP had been in power for four times and on the opposition bench twice. BNP has been out of power for nearly 15 years since the 1/11 political changeover.

BNP acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in separate messages congratulated the people of the country, party leaders, workers and activists and well-wishers on the occasion.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

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Russia-Ukraine war may strain Bangladesh’s balance of payments, PM Hasina tells Parliament

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war may have a negative impact on country’s balance of payments.

She was replying to a tabled question from Jatiya Party MP Mashiur Rahman Ranga during PM’s question-answer session.

She also cited the weak growth of world economy, disruption of the supply chain, increase of cost of fuel oil, gas, food products, consumer goods, industrial raw materials and international freight cost in the global market, decline in exports, negative growth of remittances as among the factors behind a possible negative impact on Bangladesh’s balance of payment.

Hasina, also the leader of the House, said her government has demonstrated remarkable success in keeping both the budget deficit and debt levels at sustainable and bearable levels for the past 14 years.

She said that it has been possible to keep the budget deficit within five per cent of GDP despite various domestic and international economic problems including the Corona pandemic situation.

The debt and GDP ratio is also at the comfortable level, she added.

She also said that at the end of 2021-22 fiscal year, debt and GDP ratio was 34 per cent, which is well below of the internationally recognised debt status threshold for Bangladesh.

She also highlighted various steps of the government to deal the situation.

Replying to another question of Jatiya Party MP from Dhaka Syed Abu Hossain, the PM said that there is no electricity crisis in the country considering the fact that the country has the production capacity in line with the demand.

She, however, said efforts are on to get rid of the problem – caused by ongoing global fuel oil crisis – through maintaining austerity in using electricity and planned load-shedding to save fuel oil.

She mentioned that despite having the capacity of electricity production, in some cases the government has imposed load shedding between 1000-2000MW for saving the fuel oil.

“The government has taken various measurers to keep the load shedding to a limited scale to tackle the ongoing global crisis,” she said.

She, however, hoped that the current power cuts would end sooner than later.

The situation, she said, is expected to improve when the electricity generated from the new coal-based power stations is transmitted to the national grid and if the austerity could be ensured in electricity usage.

Replying to ruling party MP M Shahidul Islam (Bakul) from Natore, the prime minister said that currently the country has a total of 7.01 metric tonnes of refined and crude oil which can meet the demands of 30-35 days.

“By this time two vessels with carrying fuel oil will reach the country keeping fuel oil supply uninterrupted,” she said.

She said that import schedule of fuel oil considering the country’s need for the next six months (July-December) has been ensured with the supplying company.

In response to a question from Habibur Rahman, a member of Bogra-5 Constituency, the PM said that a total of 6,836 Bangladeshi peacekeepers are currently engaged in 8 peacekeeping missions under the United Nations, of which 521 are women.

A total of 161 Bangladeshi peacekeepers have been killed and 258 injured so far while discharging their duties in the mission, she said.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

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More than two-thirds of births avoid C-section

The rate of normal birth delivery in the country is 69 percent, while the rate of cesarean delivery is 39 percent, Health Minister Zahid Maleque told parliament on Monday.

He said this replying to a scripted question from Jatiya Party’s Rustum Ali Faraji MP.

The minister said an action plan titled “Promotion of Normal Vaginal Delivery, Prevention of Unnecessary Cesarean Section and Creating Awareness about Necessity and Justification of Cesarean Section” is under implementation” in order to increase the rate of normal delivery and reduce the caesarean section births.

The action plan includes strengthening of regulatory framework, strengthening health management, capacity building of service providers through various trainings, and ensuring quality in and of delivery services.The posting of doctors at district and upazila levels, ensuring round-the-clock emergency and maternity services through providing necessary equipment, he said, in fact improving.

The minister said the action plan also includes strengthening of services and deputation of midwives at the district upazila level, campaign activities to ensure at least four antenatal services, through which pregnant mothers are informed about the positive aspects of normal delivery and unnecessary caesarean sections.

To ensure antenatal care for expectant mothers, house-to-house mother gatherings are being held with dignitaries of society routinely .

In addition, various monitoring activities are underway to increase social security programs and reduce caesarean section rates, the minister added.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

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Zombie ice from Greenland will raise sea level 10 inches

Greenland’s rapidly melting ice sheet will eventually raise global sea level by at least 10.6 inches (27 centimeters) — more than twice as much as previously forecast — according to a study published Monday.

That’s because of something that could be called zombie ice. That’s doomed ice that, while still attached to thicker areas of ice, is no longer getting replenished by parent glaciers now receiving less snow. Without replenishment, the doomed ice is melting from climate change and will inevitably raise seas, said study co-author William Colgan, a glaciologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.

“It’s dead ice. It’s just going to melt and disappear from the ice sheet,” Colgan said in an interview. “This ice has been consigned to the ocean, regardless of what climate (emissions) scenario we take now.”

Study lead author Jason Box, a glaciologist at the Greenland survey, said it is “more like one foot in the grave.”

The unavoidable ten inches in the study is more than twice as much sea level rise as scientists had previously expected from the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet. The study in the journal Nature Climate Change said it could reach as much as 30 inches (78 centimeters). By contrast, last year’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report projected a range of 2 to 5 inches (6 to 13 centimeters) for likely sea level rise from Greenland ice melt by the year 2100.

What scientists did for the study was look at the ice in balance. In perfect equilibrium, snowfall in the mountains in Greenland flows down and recharges and thickens the sides of glaciers, balancing out what’s melting on the edges. But in the last few decades there’s less replenishment and more melting, creating imbalance. Study authors looked at the ratio of what’s being added to what’s being lost and calculated that 3.3% of Greenland’s total ice volume will melt no matter what happens with the world cutting carbon pollution, Colgan said.

“I think starving would be a good phrase,” for what’s happening to the ice, Colgan said.

One of the study authors said that more than 120 trillion tons (110 trillion metric tons) of ice is already doomed to melt from the warming ice sheet’s inability to replenish its edges. When that ice melts into water, if it were concentrated only over the United States, it would be 37 feet (11 meters) deep.

The figures are a global average for sea level rise, but some places further away from Greenland would get more and places closer, like the U.S. East Coast, would get less. Although 10.6 inches may not sound like much, this would be over and above high tides and storms, making them even worse, so this much sea level rise “will have huge societal, economic and environmental impacts,” said Ellyn Enderlin, a geosciences professor at Boise State University, who wasn’t part of the study.

“This is a really large loss and will have a detrimental effect on coastlines around the world,” said NYU’s David Holland who just returned from Greenland, but is not part of the study.

This is the first time scientists calculated a minimum ice loss — and accompanying sea level rise — for Greenland, one of Earth’s two massive ice sheets that are slowly shrinking because of climate change from burning coal, oil and natural gas. Scientists used an accepted technique for calculating minimum committed ice loss, the one used on mountain glaciers for the entire giant frozen island.

Pennsylvania State University glaciologist Richard Alley, who wasn’t part of the study but said it made sense, said the committed melting and sea level rise is like an ice cube put in a cup of hot tea in a warm room.

“You have committed mass loss from the ice,” Alley said in an email. “In the same way, most of the world’s mountain glaciers and the edges of Greenland would continue losing mass if temperatures were stabilized at modern levels because they have been put into warmer air just as your ice cube was put in warmer tea.”

Time is the key unknown here and a bit of a problem with the study, said two outside ice scientists, Leigh Stearns of the University of Kansas and Sophie Nowicki of the University of Buffalo. The researchers in the study said they couldn’t estimate the timing of the committed melting, yet in the last sentence they mention, “within this century,” without supporting it, Stearns said.

Colgan responded that the team doesn’t know how long it will take for all the doomed ice to melt, but making an educated guess, it would probably be by the end of this century, or at least by 2150.

Colgan said this is actually all a best case scenario. The year 2012 (and to a different degree 2019 ) was a huge melt year, when the equilibrium between adding and subtracting ice was most out of balance. If Earth starts to undergo more years like 2012, Greenland melt could trigger 30 inches (78 centimeters) of sea level rise, he said. Those two years seem extreme now, but years that look normal now would have been extreme 50 years ago, he said.

“That’s how climate change works,” Colgan said. “Today’s outliers become tomorrow’s averages.”

Source: United News of Bangladesh

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Bill streamlining regulations for medical/dental colleges passes into law

The Private Medical College and Dental College Bill, 2022 was passed in Parliament on Monday to ensure discipline in private medical and dental colleges by bringing those under a law instead of remaining under two separate guidelines.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque moved the Bill, and it was of course passed by voice vote.

The country’s private medical and dental colleges are now operated under the Private Medical College Establishment and Operation Guidelines, 2011 and Private Dental College Establishment and Operation Guidelines, 2009.

As per the bill, a private medical or dental college must have at least 50 students while its teachers-students ratio will have to be 1:10 as per the proposed law.

A medical college needs to have at least two acres of land in any metropolitan area while the land requirement for the dental college is one acre.

For setting up a medical college outside any metropolitan area, the land requirement is a minimum four acres; it is two acres for a dental college.

Also, for establishing a medical college, an amount of Tk 3 crore will have to be deposited with any commercial bank and Tk 2 crore for a dental college as reserve funds.

The proposed law says any medical college must have one lakh square feet of space for academic purposes and another one lakh square feet of space for hospital purposes. For a dental college, the hospital space has to be 50,000 square feet.

The authorities concerned will inspect such colleges and hospitals from time to time.

The medical and dental colleges will have to be affiliated with any public university, as per the proposed law.

The government will fix the academic fees for medical and dental colleges.

Besides, private medical college or dental college authorities will have dispose of their wastes in a scientific manner.

In the case of violation of the law, the maximum punishment will be two years of imprisonment or a fine of Tk 10 lakh or both.

Currently, there are some 70 private medical colleges and 26 private dental colleges in the country.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

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Pakistan fatal flooding has hallmarks of warming

The familiar ingredients of a warming world were in place: searing temperatures, hotter air holding more moisture, extreme weather getting wilder, melting glaciers, people living in harm’s way, and poverty. They combined in vulnerable Pakistan to create unrelenting rain and deadly flooding.

The flooding has all the hallmarks of a catastrophe juiced by climate change, but it is too early to formally assign blame to global warming, several scientists tell The Associated Press. It occurred in a country that did little to cause the warming, but keeps getting hit, just like the relentless rain.

“This year Pakistan has received the highest rainfall in at least three decades. So far this year the rain is running at more than 780% above average levels,” said Abid Qaiyum Suleri, executive director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute and a member of Pakistan’s Climate Change Council. “Extreme weather patterns are turning more frequent in the region and Pakistan is not a exception.”

Climate Minister Sherry Rehman said “it’s been a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions.”

Pakistan “is considered the eighth most vulnerable country to climate change,” said Moshin Hafeez, a Lahore-based climate scientist at the International Water Management Institute. Its rain, heat and melting glaciers are all climate change factors scientists warned repeatedly about.

While scientists point out these classic climate change fingerprints, they have not yet finished intricate calculations that compare what happened in Pakistan to what would happen in a world without warming. That study, expected in a few weeks, will formally determine how much climate change is a factor, if at all.

The “recent flood in Pakistan is actually an outcome of the climate catastrophe … that was looming very large,” said Anjal Prakash, a research director at India’s Bharti Institute of Public Policy. “The kind of incessant rainfall that has happened … has been unprecedented.”

Pakistan is used to monsoons and downpours, but “we do expect them spread out, usually over three months or two months,” said the country’s climate minister Rehman.

There are usually breaks, she said, and not as much rain — 37.5 centimeters (14.8 inches) falls in one day, nearly three times higher than the national average for the past three decades. “Neither is it so prolonged. … It’s been eight weeks and we are told we might see another downpour in September.”

“Clearly, it’s being juiced by climate change,” said Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Massachusetts.

There’s been a 400% increase in average rainfall in areas like Baluchistan and Sindh, which led to the extreme flooding, Hafeez said. At least 20 dams have been breached.

The heat has been as relentless as the rain. In May, Pakistan consistently saw temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). Scorching temperatures higher than 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) were recorded in places like Jacobabad and Dadu.

Warmer air holds more moisture — about 7% more per degree Celsius (4% per degree Fahrenheit) — and that eventually comes down, in this case in torrents.

Across the world “intense rain storms are getting more intense,” said Princeton University climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer. And he said mountains, like those in Pakistan, help wring extra moisture out as the clouds pass.

Instead of just swollen rivers flooding from extra rain, Pakistan is hit with another source of flash flooding: The extreme heat accelerates the long-term glacier melting then water speeds down from the Himalayas to Pakistan in a dangerous phenomena called glacial lake outburst floods.

“We have the largest number of glaciers outside the polar region, and this affects us,” climate minister Rehman said. “Instead of keeping their majesty and preserving them for posterity and nature. We are seeing them melt.”

Not all of the problem is climate change.

Pakistan saw similar flooding and devastation in 2010 that killed nearly 2,000 people. But the government didn’t implement plans to prevent future flooding by preventing construction and homes in flood prone areas and river beds, said Suleri of the country’s Climate Change Council.

The disaster is hitting a poor country that has contributed relatively little to the world’s climate problem, scientists and officials said. Since 1959, Pakistan has emitted about 0.4% of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, compared to 21.5% by the United States and 16.4% by China.

“Those countries that have developed or gotten rich on the back of fossil fuels, which are the problem really,” Rehman said. “They’re going to have to make a critical decision that the world is coming to a tipping point. We certainly have already reached that point because of our geographical location.”

Source: United News of Bangladesh

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Global Covid cases top 606 million

The overall number of Covid cases has now crossed 606 million amid a rise in new infections in parts of the world.

According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 606,549,461 and the death toll reached 6,489,855 on Tuesday morning.

The US has recorded 96,091,120 cases so far and 1,069,499 people have died from the virus in the country, both highest counts around the world.

According to India’s federal health ministry data released on Monday morning, 3,948 new cases of Covid were reported in 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,419,671 in the country, the world’s second largest caseload, according to official data.

The cases reported on Sunday marked a decrease compared to the daily caseload of Sunday, which was 9,436.

The country also logged 45 related deaths in 24 hours, pushing the overall toll to 527,799 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.

Covid in Bangladesh

Bangladesh reported zero Covid deaths and 243 new cases in 24 hours till Monday morning.

While the country’s total fatalities remained unchanged at 29,323, the new numbers took its caseload to 2,011,560, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The daily case test positivity rate rose to 4.74 percent from Sunday’s 4.62 percent as 5,125 samples were tested.

The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.46 percent. The recovery rate remained static at 97.23 percent.

In July, the country reported 142 Covid-linked deaths and 31,422 cases, the highest monthly death toll and caseload since March this year.

Bangladesh registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 the same year.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

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Diana’s last moments: French doctor recalls ‘tragic night’

The woman was crumpled on the floor of a mangled Mercedes, unconscious and struggling to breathe. The French doctor had no idea who she was and just focused on trying to save her.

Twenty-five years later, Dr. Frederic Mailliez is still marked by what happened in the Alma Tunnel in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997 — and the realization that he was one of the last people to see Princess Diana alive.

“I realize my name will always be attached to this tragic night,” Mailliez, who was on his way home from a party when he came across the car crash, told The Associated Press. “I feel a little bit responsible for her last moments.”

As Britain and Diana’s admirers worldwide mark a quarter-century since her death, Mailliez recounted the aftermath of the crash.

That night, Mailliez was driving into the tunnel when he spotted a smoking Mercedes nearly split in two.

“I walked toward the wreckage. I opened the door, and I looked inside,” he said.

What he saw: “Four people, two of them were apparently dead, no reaction, no breathing, and the two others, on the right side, were living but in severe condition. The front passenger was screaming, he was breathing. He could wait a few minutes. And the female passenger, the young lady, was on her knees on the floor of the Mercedes, she had her head down. She had difficulty to breathe. She needed quick assistance.”

He ran to his car to call emergency services and grab a respiratory bag.

“She was unconscious,” he said. “Thanks to my respiratory bag (…) she regained a little bit more energy, but she couldn’t say anything.”

The doctor would later find out the news — along with the rest of the world — that the woman he treated was Diana, Britain’s national treasure adored by millions.

“I know it’s surprising, but I didn’t recognize Princess Diana,” he said. “I was in the car on the rear seat giving assistance. I realized she was very beautiful, but my attention was so focused on what I had to do to save her life, I didn’t have time to think, who was this woman.”

“Someone behind me told me the victims spoke English, so I began to speak English, saying I was a doctor and I called the ambulance,” he said. “I tried to comfort her.”

As he worked, he noticed the flash of camera bulbs, of paparazzi gathered to document the scene. A British inquest found Diana’s chauffeur, Henri Paul, was drunk and driving at a high speed to elude pursuing photographers.

Mailliez said he had “no reproach” toward the photographers’ actions after the crash. “They didn’t hamper me having access to the victims. … I didn’t ask them for help, but they didn’t interfere with my job.”

Firefighters quickly came, and Diana was taken to a Paris hospital, where she died a few hours later. Her companion Dodi Fayed and the driver also died.

“It was a massive shock to learn that she was Princess Diana, and that she died,” Mailliez said. Then self-doubt set in. “Did I do everything I could to save her? Did I do correctly my job?” he asked himself. “I checked with my medical professors and I checked with police investigators,” he said, and they agreed he did all he could.

The anniversary is stirring up those memories again, but they also come back “each time I drive through the Alma Tunnel,” he said.

As Mailliez spoke, standing atop the tunnel, cars rushed in and out past the pillar where she crashed, now bearing a stencil drawing of Diana’s face.

The Flame of Liberty monument nearby has become a memorial site attracting Diana fans of all generations and nationalities. She has become a timeless figure of emancipation and a fashion icon even for those born after her death.

Irinia Ouahvi, a 16-year-old Parisian visiting the flame, said she knows Diana through TikTok videos and through her mother.

“Even with her style she was a feminist. She challenged royal etiquette, wearing cyclist shorts and casual pants,” Ouahvi said.

Francine Rose, a Dutch 16-year-old who stopped by Diana’s memorial while on a biking trip in Paris, discovered her story thanks to “Spencer,” a recent film starring Kristen Stewart.

“She is an inspiration because she was evolving in the strict household, the royal family, and just wanted to be free,” Rose said.

Source: United News of Bangladesh