Bangladesh, which imports roughly 95 percent of its fuel, is facing a deepening energy crisis. Long queues have formed outside petrol stations, universities across the country have been shut, and the government has cut working hours to conserve energy.
Frustration is also growing over the toll the US-Israel war on Iran is taking on daily life.
At one petrol station in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, Abdul Goni, a 48-year-old long-distance coach driver, said he had been waiting for about five and a half hours to have his bus refuelled, delaying scheduled weekend departures from the popular beach town to other districts.
Drivers also complained that the amount of fuel allocated to each vehicle was insufficient for long-distance journeys.
“We are in deep trouble with this crisis. This is a daily woe for us,” Mohammad Irfat, a 17-year-old college student, told the Reuters news agency. “Only 2 litres [68fl oz] of fuel are not enough. I came from Inani [some 40km or 25 miles away]. The return trips drain all my fuel. Almost 1 to one-and-a-half litres [33 to 50fl oz] of fuel is burned.”
