4 killed in bus fire: Passenger says driver was ‘distracted’ after argument before crash

Before the bus accident in Daudkandi, Cumilla, in which four people were burnt to death, an argument broke out between a passenger and the driver and his assistant, leaving the driver distracted.

The bus subsequently lost control while overtaking a motorcycle and a battery-powered auto-rickshaw, overturned, and caught fire. This account was given by a passenger on the bus, Mamud Neyamat Ullah, a student of Jagannath University.

The accident occurred in the Baniapara area of the Dhaka–Chattogram highway, when a bus collided with a battery-powered auto-rickshaw and a motorcycle, triggering a fire around 12:15 pm on Friday.

Four people, including two children, were killed after being burnt, and at least 30 others were injured.

The injured were taken to the Daudkandi Upazila Health Complex, while 12 of them were later referred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Mamud Neyamat Ullah, a Master’s student of Islamic Studies at Jagannath University, is a resident of Aruara village in Chandina upazila.

He was travelling to sit for the primary teacher recruitment examination but was unable to take the test due to the accident.

He said the bus had stopped at Amirabad bus stand in Daudkandi, where a male passenger boarded with the intention of travelling to Cumilla. However, the driver refused to stop the bus at the passenger’s desired destination. This led to a verbal altercation between the passenger, the driver, and the driver’s assistant.

According to him, during the argument, the driver became distracted. Shortly afterwards, in the Chattogram-bound lane near Baniapara, the driver attempted to overtake a motorcycle and a battery-powered auto-rickshaw, at which point the bus lost control, overturned, and caught fire.

Similar accounts were given by three other passengers who were also travelling on the bus.

Upon receiving the report, members of the fire service and highway police rushed to the scene. After the damaged bus was removed from the road, vehicular movement resumed from 2:00 pm.

At around 2:45 pm, the officer-in-charge of Daudkandi highway police, Mohammad Iqbal Bahar Majumder, said the identities of the deceased had not yet been confirmed.

He further said that the bodies have been kept in police custody, and further decisions will be taken after the victims’ relatives arrive at the police station.