Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Resigns and Flees as Protesters Storm Palace

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and left the country after protesters invaded the government’s palace.

Footage online shows protesters looting Hasina’s official residence in the capital Dhaka.

Some of the demonstrators were also seen carrying chairs and what looks like a sofa from the Ganabhaban residence.

The longtime leader of the country was said to have boarded a military helicopter after crowds ignored a national curfew and stormed the prime minister’s palace.

Hasina, 76, and her sister earlier took a military to India’s eastern state of West Bengal, according to media reports,

The PM was said to have been forced to quit after massive protests against her government over a controversial quota system that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971.

Close to 300 people have died in the weeks of protest the authorities tried to crush.

Following a night of deadly violence that killed close to 100 on Sunday, tension remained high on Monday as protesters called for a march on Dhaka and the army prepared to address the nation.

In the early afternoon, the media began reporting that the atmosphere on the streets had shifted to a celebratory one as news of Hasina’s departure spread.

Chief of Army Staff, General Waker-Uz-Zaman has canceled his planned address and is instead holding talks with major political parties, including the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Hasina has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.

Rights groups accuse her government of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including through the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.

Demonstrations began over the reintroduction of a quota scheme that reserved more than half of all government jobs for certain groups.

The protests escalated despite the scheme having been scaled back by Bangladesh’s top court.

Soldiers and police with armoured vehicles in Dhaka had barricaded routes to Hasina’s office with barbed wire on Monday morning, but vast crowds flooded the streets, tearing down barriers.

The Business Standard newspaper estimated as many as 400,000 protesters were on the streets but it was impossible to verify the figure.