SHAHEEN MOLLAH and TUHIN SHUBHRA ADHIKARY

Around 4:45pm on Eid day, Mohammad Rubel and his wife were anxiously waiting in the emergency queue with their daughter, Fatema, aged two years and eight months.

The family had travelled from Tangail Sadar after local doctors suspected a gallbladder-related complication, along with fever and respiratory problems. According to them, the child had been vomiting after eating and her condition was not improving.

After waiting for about an hour, they managed to consult a doctor. Following examination, Fatema was admitted to a ward on the third floor for further treatment.

With many local hospitals closed or operating with limited services during Eid holidays, patients like Fatema were rushed to specialised and medical college hospitals in Dhaka. These hospitals, however, were running with limited manpower, mostly non-Muslim staff.

At the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), the emergency department was busier than usual on Eid day (March 21), with a surge in patients injured in motorcycle accidents.

Patients of all ages arrived with various injuries, including broken arms, broken legs, and minor wounds.

During a visit by this correspondent, a youth was brought in on a stretcher. His maternal uncle said the patient, Jubayer, an 18-year-old HSC student, had taken his elder brother’s motorbike for a ride and met with an accident.

“His right leg is broken,” he said, adding that they brought him from Narayanganj Sadar by ambulance.

Prof Abul Kenan, director of NITOR, said road accident cases usually increase at the Nilufar

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