Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral of a top Islamic cleric in Bangladesh on Saturday, defying a nationwide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed 84 patients and infected 2,144 others. Mawlana Jubayer Ahmed Ansari, 55, who was the nayeb-e-ameer (deputy) of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, died at Bertala village in Sarail upazila on Friday night.

His funeral was held at a local madrasa, which thousands of people from different areas, including Dhaka, attended, flouting government directives and risking their lives, the Dhaka Tribune reported. "About 50,000 people attended his funeral on Saturday morning, defying the government's strict social distancing rule," the paper said, citing locals.

The incident took place just days after the government announced that the entire country was at risk of succumbing to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 154,800 people worldwide. The huge gathering at the funeral drew criticism from locals as well as citizens from different parts of the country through social media.

"The funeral was arranged at a time when the government has prohibited gatherings to ensure social distancing in order to curb coronavirus transmission," said Al Mamun Sarkar, member of the district's coronavirus control and prevention committee. The district's Civil Surgeon Dr Ekram Ullah said: "It is my beyond imagination how a large number of people could take part in the funeral when people have been told to say prayers inside their homes, and not go to mosques, to contain the pandemic." When asked, a local police officer said, "We did not think the gathering would be this big. Police could not do anything as the situation was out of control because of the massive gathering." Additional Superintendent of Police Md Alamgir Hossain said they had asked the madrasa authorities to maintain social distancing and ensure all preventative steps during the funeral.