Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country, as more people were killed in some of the worst violence since the birth of the South Asian nation more than five decades ago.
Army chief General Waker-Us-Zaman said in a televised address that Ms Hasina 76, had left the country and that an interim government would be formed.
Media reports said she had flown in a military helicopter with her sister and was headed to India.
The CNN News 18 television channel said she had landed in Agartala, the capital of India's northeastern state of Tripura.
Reuters could not immediately verify the reports.
Meanwhile, police and doctors say at least 56 people were killed during the violent unrest in Bangladesh on Monday.
At least 44 of the dead were brought to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, an AFP correspondent said, reporting all had bullet wounds.
Police said 11 others were killed elsewhere in the capital, and another in the port city of Chittagong.
Television visuals showed thousands of people pouring into the streets of the capital Dhaka in jubilation and shouting slogans. Thousands also stormed Ms Hasina's official residence 'Ganabhaban', shouting slogans, pumping fists and showing victory signs.
The TV video showed crowds in the drawing rooms of the residence, and some people could be seen carrying away televisions, chairs and tables from what was one of the most protected buildings in the country.
"She has fled the country, fled the country," some shouted.
Protesters in Dhaka also climbed atop a large statue of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Ms Hasina's father, and began chiselling away at the head with an axe, the visuals showed.
Student activists had called for a march to the capital Dhaka in defiance of a nationwide curfew to press Ms Hasina to resign, a day after deadly clashes across the country killed nearly 100 people.
Read more: Bangladesh's iron lady Sheikh Hasina falls after 15 years in power
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The European Union on Monday called for an "orderly and peaceful" transition to democratic rule in Bangladesh.
"The EU calls for calm and restraint. It is vital that an orderly and peaceful transition towards a democratically elected government is ensured, in full respect of human rights and democratic principles," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
About 150 people were killed in protests last month.
At least six people were killed in clashes between police and protesters in the Jatrabari and Dhaka Medical College areas, the Daily Star newspaper reported. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
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 ouster of Ms Hasina, who won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition.
