The prime minister of Bangladesh has fled the country for a “safer place” amid violent protests demanding her resignation.

Thousands of Bangladeshi protesters stormed the palace of Sheikh Hasina in the capital of Dhaka on Monday.

Local network Channel 24 broadcast images of crowds running into the premier’s official residence in the capital, waving to the camera as they celebrated.

Bangladesh has been engulfed by protests and violence that began last month after student groups demanded scrapping of a controversial quota system in government jobs.

That escalated into a campaign to seek the ousting of Ms Hasina, who won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition.

At least 91 people were killed and hundreds injured on Sunday in a wave of violence across the country of 170 million people as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse tens of thousands of protesters. The total death toll from the unrest has reached 280.

Ms Hasina and her younger sister left the country in a military helicopter on Monday, Bangladesh’s top newspaper Dhaka Tribune reported.

“She and her sister have left Ganabhaban (the premier’s official residence) for a safer place,” a source told AFP. “She wanted to record a speech. But she could not get an opportunity to do that.”

A senior advisor to Ms Hasina said that her resignation was a “possibility”.

“The situation is such that this is a possibility, but I don’t know how it will happen,” the aide close to the premier said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Protesters on Monday defied security forces enforcing a curfew, marching on the capital’s streets after the deadliest day of unrest since demonstrations erupted last month.

Internet access was tightly restricted on Monday, offices were closed and more than 3,500 factories servicing Bangladesh’s economically vital garment industry were shut.

Soldiers and police with armoured vehicles in Dhaka had barricaded routes to Hasina’s office with barbed wire but vast crowds flooded the streets, tearing down barriers.

The Business Standard newspaper estimated as many as 400,000 protesters were on the streets.

“The time has come for the final protest,” said Asif Mahmud, one of the key leaders in the nationwide civil disobedience campaign.