A journalist died while covering the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election inside the university’s Curzon Hall on Tuesday.
The deceased was identified as Tarikul Shibli, 40, who was working as a city reporter for Channel S Television, according to colleagues.
Eyewitnesses said Tarikul Shibli was rushed to the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 1:30 pm on Tuesday, after he collapsed unconscious inside Curzon Hall. Doctors there declared him dead upon arrival.
His colleague Sohel Rana said Shibli was live on air while covering the DUCSU election inside Curzon Hall when he suddenly fell unconscious. “We took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, but doctors said he had already died,” he added.
Rana further said Shibli’s ancestral home was in Burichang upazila of Cumilla district, while he had been residing in the Diabari area of Uttara, Dhaka. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Confirming the death, Inspector Md Faruk, in-charge of the DMCH police camp, said the body has been kept at the hospital morgue and the concerned police station has been informed.
“Doctors suspect he died of cardiac arrest, but the exact cause of death will be confirmed after the post-mortem report,” he added.
The news of Tarikul Shibli’s death has cast a pall of grief across the journalist community.
