Bangladeshi Students in China Appeal for Help

Bangladeshi students in Wuhan city of China, the epicenter of the Coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed 41 lives so far, are under a lockdown in their respective dorms and residences for the last two days.

Many have appealed through social media networks, asking for help from the Bangladesh mission in China, saying they want to return to Bangladesh.

They are also worried as their food stock is running low and most superstores in Wuhan have remained closed.

Wuhan, a city of 11 million, is in virtual lockdown. All passenger flights at the airport have been canceled and checkpoints block the main roads leading out of town.

Authorities have since imposed similar lockdowns on more than 10 cities near Wuhan as part of the ongoing containment effort and Bangladeshi students, nearly 500 of them currently in the city, are caught up in the lockdown.  

The students have said they got in touch with the Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing but the embassy authorities simply told them to contact them if they face any trouble.

Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry officials in Dhaka have said no one reached out to them regarding this.

An official of the External Publicity Wing at the foreign ministry suggested the students contact a hotline number at Bangladesh Embassy: https://www.bdembassybeijing.org/contact-us/