<p>Hundreds of thousands of people fled the Bangladesh capital Thursday in every available car, train and bus after authorities lifted a coronavirus lockdown despite soaring infections and deaths.</p>.<p>The government has allowed an eight-day respite after two weeks of lockdown which has seen troops patrolling the streets to keep people in their homes.</p>.<p>With the nation about to celebrate the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival, thousands of buses returned to highways, ferries left the capital for coastal ports and trains started rolling.</p>.<p>Traditionally, tens of millions of people in the Muslim majority country of 169 million people leave the major cities for the Eid al-Adha celebrations.</p>.<p>At Shimulia ferry station, some 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Dhaka, buses packed ferries and crowded the main riverfront, causing chaotic congestion.</p>.<p>Mohammad Sharif, an 18-year-old carpenter who lives in Dhaka, headed to his village to be with his parents.</p>.<p>"I am taking the first chance to get home. If the lockdown is imposed again after Eid, then I will stay at my village," he told AFP before boarding a boat.</p>.<p>Police struggled to control crowds, according to Sirajul Islam, police chief at Louhojang, south of Dhaka.</p>.<p>"There is intense passenger pressure on the ferries," he said. "We have taken stern steps so that the ferries don't take too many passengers against health rules."</p>.<p>Authorities said they eased restrictions to help the economy. More than 10 million cows and goats -- worth billions of dollars -- are slaughtered for Eid.</p>.<p>Bus drivers and boat operators said they were happy to be making money again.</p>.<p>"We have been the victims of this virus for 15 months. The impact it has on our families is unbearable," said bus driver Abdul Kader.</p>.<p>"At least 300 buses have left Gabtoli bus terminal for northern Bangladesh districts since this morning. People are leaving the city en masse," Rakib Hasan Johny, a manager of the Hanif bus service, told AFP.</p>.<p>Virus experts warned the government against lifting the lockdown, saying it might cause an even faster spread of the Delta variant that has swept the country since late May.</p>.<p>In recent days, daily infections have soared above 12,000, more than double the figures for last month. Deaths have hit a record 230 a day. Experts say the real toll is much higher than the government estimate.</p>.<p>Bangladesh has so far recorded more than 17,000 deaths and one million infections.</p>
<p>Hundreds of thousands of people fled the Bangladesh capital Thursday in every available car, train and bus after authorities lifted a coronavirus lockdown despite soaring infections and deaths.</p>.<p>The government has allowed an eight-day respite after two weeks of lockdown which has seen troops patrolling the streets to keep people in their homes.</p>.<p>With the nation about to celebrate the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival, thousands of buses returned to highways, ferries left the capital for coastal ports and trains started rolling.</p>.<p>Traditionally, tens of millions of people in the Muslim majority country of 169 million people leave the major cities for the Eid al-Adha celebrations.</p>.<p>At Shimulia ferry station, some 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Dhaka, buses packed ferries and crowded the main riverfront, causing chaotic congestion.</p>.<p>Mohammad Sharif, an 18-year-old carpenter who lives in Dhaka, headed to his village to be with his parents.</p>.<p>"I am taking the first chance to get home. If the lockdown is imposed again after Eid, then I will stay at my village," he told AFP before boarding a boat.</p>.<p>Police struggled to control crowds, according to Sirajul Islam, police chief at Louhojang, south of Dhaka.</p>.<p>"There is intense passenger pressure on the ferries," he said. "We have taken stern steps so that the ferries don't take too many passengers against health rules."</p>.<p>Authorities said they eased restrictions to help the economy. More than 10 million cows and goats -- worth billions of dollars -- are slaughtered for Eid.</p>.<p>Bus drivers and boat operators said they were happy to be making money again.</p>.<p>"We have been the victims of this virus for 15 months. The impact it has on our families is unbearable," said bus driver Abdul Kader.</p>.<p>"At least 300 buses have left Gabtoli bus terminal for northern Bangladesh districts since this morning. People are leaving the city en masse," Rakib Hasan Johny, a manager of the Hanif bus service, told AFP.</p>.<p>Virus experts warned the government against lifting the lockdown, saying it might cause an even faster spread of the Delta variant that has swept the country since late May.</p>.<p>In recent days, daily infections have soared above 12,000, more than double the figures for last month. Deaths have hit a record 230 a day. Experts say the real toll is much higher than the government estimate.</p>.<p>Bangladesh has so far recorded more than 17,000 deaths and one million infections.</p>