Man survives six hour burial

A 45-year-old Bangladeshi man emerged from his grave after nearly six hours underground, a local news agency reported today.

Shamsul Haq, a farmer in a remote village in northern Kurigram district, was beaten unconscious and buried in a shallow grave on the night of May 21, the United News of Bangladesh said.

The next morning, some farmers saw Haq’s foot protruding from the ground and dug him up. He was unconscious but alive.

Haq, who had fallen into a coma, regained consciousness after nearly 24 hours at a hospital in nearby Kurigram town, 240 kilometres (150 miles) north of the capital Dhaka.

‘‘About six men waylaid me as I was returning home late at night. They kicked and beat me up, and I lost consciousness. When I came to, I found myself buried underground. I tried to claw through the moist earth with my hands, but I lost sense again,’’

Haq told the United News of Bangladesh from his hospital bed.

Haq said he recognised one of his assailants as a neighbour who wanted to marry his teenage daughter against Haq’s wishes.

Local police were informed of the incident, but no one has been arrested yet, the news agency said.