7 killed as bus crushes auto-rickshaw in Mymensingh

Seven passengers of a CNG-run auto-rickshaw were killed after being crushed by a bus in Mymensingh on Friday.

The accident occurred around 1:15 PM in the Purbo Gandropa area in front of Bangladesh Bank in the city''s Akua Bypass area.

Mohammad Shibirul Islam, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Mymensingh Kotwali Model police station, confirmed the deaths of the seven people to Prothom Alo.

Speaking around 3:00 pm, OC Shibirul Islam said the victims were passengers of the auto-rickshaw. Their identities have not yet been confirmed. Police are trying to identify them through their mobile phones and other sources of information found with them.

The bodies have been sent to the morgue of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital. Arrangements will be made to hand over the bodies to their families once their identities are confirmed.

The OC further said the bus driver and his assistant fled the scene with the bus after the accident. Police later seized the bus but the driver and his assistant could not be found. Efforts are underway to detain them.

Mohammad Julhas Uddin, station officer of Mymensingh Fire Service, said two units of the Fire Service went to the scene after receiving news of the accident.

He said a Rajib Paribahan bus bound for Jamalpur had a head-on collision with an auto-rickshaw travelling towards the Mymensingh Bypass. Police, firefighters and local residents pulled the bodies out of the auto-rickshaw. The bodies were later sent to the morgue of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.

No immediate information was available on the exact cause of the accident.

An eyewitness, Mamun Hossain, said he heard a loud crash while he was on his way to attend Friday prayers and came to the scene. He saw the auto-rickshaw badly mangled in the accident.

People pushed the bus aside and pulled out the auto-rickshaw. The bodies were then recovered from inside the auto-rickshaw.