Dead with bullet wounds, crowds setting TV channels on fire, protesters lying on beds at the prime minister’s residence: eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos in Bangladesh after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country in the morning.

The fall of Hasina, after 15 years in power, was an event celebrated by many of the protesters, who climbed onto the roof of her official residence after she left for India by helicopter. From there, he reportedly intends to go to Britain.

“I can’t express my feelings in words, I’m so happyecstatic Mohammad Bashir, 35, one of the millions of Bangladeshis who took to the streets when the army chief announced he would form a transitional government. “My only wish now is to take care of the families of the people and students who were killed and get justice“, he added.

On social networking sites the slogan was one: “Happy Independence Days”.

But in the corridors of Dhaka University Hospital, an AFP reporter saw bodies in pools of blood. At least 66 people were killed today and another 300 in the previous days.

Most of the 44 dead that the journalist saw were young men and all of them had bullet wounds.

The police announced that several police officers had also been killed.

The angry crowd took revenge on the resigned prime minister: some destroyed statues of her father – and the father of Bangladesh’s independence – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. A museum dedicated to Rahman was set on fire. This image of his burning portraits would have been unthinkable just hours earlier, when security forces still remained loyal to Hasina.

The offices of the Awami League, Hasina’s party, were also torched across the country.

Hundreds of people stormed the parliament. Local channels showed protesters clapping wildly, jumping on benches and lighting smoke bombs.

Sajid Akhnaf, 21, said he took to the streets of Dhaka to celebrate “this proud moment”.

“I am so happy that our country has been liberated,” he said, paralleling current events with the war of independence from Pakistan. “We were liberated from the dictatorship,” he added.

The student protest against the public sector recruitment system – which favored the descendants of independence war veterans – turned into mass demonstrations demanding Hasina’s resignation. A symbolic target for the protesters was the official residence of the former prime minister, who returned to power in 2009 after a first term between 1996-2001.

Footage shown on television shows protesters laughing as they explore the labyrinthine mansion in the heart of the capital, making beds and carrying furniture, books and televisions. The kitchen was ransacked and the crowd ate whatever food they found there. They even fished for goldfish in the palace gardens.

Others were taking photos of the animals they found at the former prime minister’s residence, such as rabbits and goats.

Murals and statues of Hasina’s father were destroyed with sledgehammers.

The army said it was controlling the situation, but many police officers involved in the crackdown on July’s protests fear reprisals. “Many police stations were attacked, many police officers were killed. Mob law prevails here,” said a senior officer who asked not to be named.