Crowds Swarm Prime Minister’s Residence after Bangladesh Leader Flees

Exuberant looters made off with furniture, bedding and potted plants as they swarmed the Bangladesh residence of the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, after she resigned her office and fled the country, according to local broadcast footage.

People scaled the residence’s black gates, the videos showed, throwing items against walls inside, bashing portraits and helping themselves to a spread of food in catering dishes.

The footage showed many people with hands and fists raised in celebration and some jumping for joy on the street. Many in the crowd appeared to be filming the event on their own cellphones.

Social media posts and live television footage also showed people taking animals from the residence, including chickens, ducks and rabbits, and some people posing with the animals.

Monsur Ali, a garment worker, said he was among the thousands of people who entered the prime minister’s residence, many of them taking away objects. He grabbed a plate.

“We went there out of anger,” he said. “Nothing is left there.”

Ms. Hasina, 76, was driven out of office by weeks of protests — initially about coveted government jobs and who is entitled to them — that began without conflict but turned deadly when government security forces cracked down. Nearly 300 people are reported to have died in those clashes.

Many in the country also oppose Ms. Hasina’s increasing authoritarianism after 15 years in power.

The country’s army chief confirmed Ms. Hasina’s resignation in a statement to the nation and said an interim government would be formed.