6 high school students killed in road crash

Prothom Alo illustration.

Six students were killed and 20 others injured after a pick-up van collided head-on with a truck in Durgapur upazila of Netrokona on Saturday night, reports news agency UNB.

All those killed are students of Gauripur Hajee Amiruddin High School. Three of the deceased were identified as Arshadul, 14, Yasin, 8, and Hridoy, 17.

Three of the injured are in critical condition, physicians said.

Netrokona’s police chief Akbar Ali Munshi confirmed the casualties at a media briefing at 10:00pm.

The accident took place around 9:00pm on Shamganj-Birishiri-Durgapur road at Kalapara market near Santipur village in the upazila.

Forty-five students from Hajee Amiruddin High School, and Shalihar-e-Motaleb Beg Dakhil Madrasa, who had appeared in this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent exams, had come to visit Bijoypur on two pick-ups from Gouripur.

They were returning home when one of pickups collided with a truck. Arshadul, Yasin, and Hridoy were killed on the spot, police said.

A senior police officer of the district said they feared the death toll might rise.

Meanwhile, 15 people were killed in separate road accidents in several other districts on Saturday.