Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country on Monday, Channel 24 television reported, following weeks of widespread street violence over student protests that left nearly 300 dead.

Hasina left the country in a military helicopter at 2:30 p.m. local time (9:30 a.m. in Lisbon), accompanied by her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana, local newspaper Prothom Alo reported. Sources cited by the media said they left for West Bengal, India.

Moments after the report was published by local media, a source close to the government official, quoted by French news agency AFP, confirmed that Sheikh Hasina had left the country’s capital, Dhaka, by helicopter, before thousands of protesters invaded the government palace.

“The security team asked him to leave, he had no time to prepare,” the same source said, adding that the politician left the place in a column of vehicles and was later “removed (from the capital) by helicopter.”

Speaking on BBC International, Hasina’s son said she had to leave the country for her own safety and said she was “disappointed that after all her work, a minority rose up against her” and that Hasina would not return to try to take power.

Earlier, the head of the Waker-Uz-Zaman Armed Forces announced Hasina’s escape in televised remarks and declared that a temporary government would be formedThe military will have spoken with political parties (excluding the ruling party) and with the president to chart the path for the future of the country.

“The country is coming out of a revolutionary period. I promise that we will bring justice to all the murders and injustices. Please do not return to the path of violence,” Zaman said, as quoted by Reuters.

After this meeting with the army, President Mohammed Shahabuddin ordered the Release of former Prime Minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia., as well as the detainees during the protests.

Shahabuddin “unanimously decided to immediately release the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Begum Khaleda Zia” and “all those detained during the student protests,” according to a statement from the presidency. Khaleda Zia, 78, has been in poor health and hospitalized since she was sentenced to 17 years in prison for corruption in 2018.

The military had already met on Sunday to assess the situation of the protests in the country, but it is not clear whether they will take over the government. On leaving the meeting, Zaman simply stated that “the Bangladesh army will always support the people, the public interest and any need of the state.”

The protests before the escape and the looting after

Thousands of people gathered in front of the official residence on Monday of the Prime Minister in Dhaka. After the news of his departure became public, Many of them invaded and looted the building.according to images broadcast by television channels.

Bangladesh’s Channel 24 showed footage of dozens of citizens at the official residence, Ganabhaban, carrying furniture, refrigerators and crockery in a mood of victory. Many of them stopped to wave to the television cameras, arms raised, after months of protests.

Protesters took to the streets despite a government-ordered curfew last night, in response to another day of violence in the context of student protests that began five weeks ago.

At the President’s meeting with the army and opposition parties, it was highlighted Lift the mandatory curfew and the reopening of “offices, factories, schools, universities” and companies from 6:00 a.m. (1:00 a.m. in Lisbon) on Tuesday.

Mobile and broadband internet services were also disrupted for around two hours on Monday, according to independent cybersecurity watchdog NetBlocks.

Hasina’s resignation comes after five weeks of student protests which began peacefully but turned violent due to reports of harsh police repression against protesters.

Around 300 people, mostly students and civilians, were killed in violent clashes that plunged Bangladesh into chaos.

Nearly 300 dead in a month of protests against government leader in Bangladesh

Student protests began by demanding an end to quotas in public employmentwhich they consider discriminatory in one of the poorest countries in the world, but ended up demanding the resignation of Hasina and her government after the deaths of the protesters.

Hasina took power in January for a fourth consecutive term after winning an election boycotted by the opposition.

New episodes of violence caused at least 56 deaths on MondayAccording to Agence France-Presse (AFP), which cites sources from the Dhaka University Hospital, which reported 44 deaths, and the police, which recorded another 11 deaths in the capital and another in the port city of Chittagong.

News updated at 17:53 hours with statements from the army and at 19:36 hours with those from the Presidency