Road accidents during the recent Eid-ul-Azha holiday rush claimed 273 lives in just 15 days, even though long-haul buses were operating for just eight of those days, according to the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity.
At least 240 road crashes occurred from 14 to 28 July, Passenger Welfare Association revealed, while presenting its road accident report-2021 at a press briefing on Friday, reports news agency UNB.
Members of the road accidents monitoring cell of the organisation prepared the report collecting information from widely published and trustworthy national, regional, daily newspapers and online portals over the 15 days covered.
The report also said 447 people were injured in the accidents that occurred at a time when thousands of people hit the road to go home and celebrate the Eid festival with their families.
The report also stated that among the deceased, 27 were women, 17 children, 53 pedestrians, 16 transport workers, and 87 drivers.
Like other years, motorcycles were the most lethal form of transport, recording 93 deaths in 87 accidents. This accounts for 36.25 per cent of the total accidents and 34.06 per cent of the total deaths recorded.
About 33.33 per cent of accidents took place on national highways, 43.33 per cent on regional highways, and 18.33 per cent in feeder roads, the report stated analysing the locations of accidents.
Of the total accidents 3.33 per cent occurred in Dhaka and 0.83 per cent in Chattogram.
If fatalities and accidents on rail and waterways are added to the road accidents, as many as 295 people died and 488 sustained injuries in 262 accidents occurring jointly on the country's road, rail and waterways during the said period.
Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, general secretary of the Jatri Kalyan Samity, said, "Despite limited movement of people during the restrictions, the number of road accidents and deaths has increased comparatively during this Eid due to the lack of surveillance by the concerned authorities."
He strongly demanded that the government prioritises road safety and takes necessary measures.
The Eid-ul-Azha was celebrated on 21 July amid the Delta variant of Covid-19 wreaking havoc across the country, making records every day.
The lockdown restrictions were lifted from 14 July midnight to the morning of 23 July. Public transport services were allowed to operate during that period. The number of road accidents and deaths over this year's Eid ul Azha rush was the highest in 6 years.
However, after the lockdown started from 23 July, the number of deaths in road accidents started decreasing from 25 July.