Two people have been killed following a clash at a hotel bar in Cox’s Bazar town, with one allegedly being stabbed to death during the altercation and another dying after being beaten by locals.

The deceased were identified as Nazibul Haque Rashed, 29, a fish trader from the Fishery Ghat area of the town, and Mohammad Solaiman, 28.

The former died during the clash at the bar of Renaissance Hotel in the Jhautala area on Thursday night, while the latter died at Chattogram Medical College Hospital early Friday.

According to police and witnesses, Rashed and several other youths were sitting at the hotel’s bar when an argument broke out among them.

At one stage, the argument turned into a fight around 11:30pm. One group allegedly called several youths from outside, who entered the bar and stabbed Rashed, leaving him with injuries to his abdomen and other parts of the body.

Rashed was rescued and taken to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, where an on-duty doctor declared him dead.

Following his death, tension spread in the Fishery Ghat area around midnight. Locals allegedly beat Solaiman and handed him over to the police in critical condition.

Officer-in-Charge of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Police Station Mohammad Ali said Solaiman was sent to Chattogram Medical College Hospital for treatment, where he died around 6:00am on Friday.

The body of Rashed has been kept at the morgue of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, he said.

Cox’s Bazar Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime and Operations) Md Wahidur Rahman said police collected CCTV footage from the hotel bar and were reviewing it to identify those involved.

“Several police teams are working to arrest those involved in the incident,” he said.

Police are also investigating whether there were any lapses in the bar’s security and access control at the time of the incident.