Motorbike accidents: 125 under treatment in same hospital in two days

After Eid prayers, Naimur Rahman went out with three friends by motorbike. Within minutes he met with an accident. His left leg bone was broken into three. He was rushed to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College in Faridpur. From there he was sent to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (Pangu Hospital) in Dhaka.

This correspondent spoke to Naimur Rahman on Friday afternoon at the emergency department of the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation in Shyamoli of the capital. He told Prothom Alo that of the three riders on the bike, he was in the worst condition. Other than the broken leg, he received injuries in his face and other parts of his body. He said when a Nasimon (local improvised vehicle) suddenly loomed before him, he lost control.

Naimur Rahman works for a pharmaceutical company. His father Amirul Islam hired an ambulance and brought him here. Amirul Islam, from Jhenaidah Sadar upazila, said he had two sons and two daughters. He was distraught after this accident. He is worried if his son will ever recover fully and even if he does, how long will it take.   

Half an hour before Naimur was brought to this hospital, a young man Shimul Hossain was brought her from Kalshi in Mirpur. He has been out on his motorbike with two friends when he got injured. His injuries are not too serious, but the big toe on his right foot is cut. He is injured in other parts of his body too.

He said he had been squeezed between a car and a battery-run auto-rickshaw when he got hurt, though his two friends were unharmed.

This correspondent remained at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation from 4:30pm to 5:30om on Friday afternoon. At least six persons were brought to the emergency department in this span of time, all of them injured in motorbike accidents.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, resident physician of National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation, Tapan Debnath, said that at least 120 persons had come to the hospital from Friday morning till 5:00 in the afternoon, and 50 of them were injured in motorbike accidents. On Eid Day, 256 came to the emergency department for treatment, 76 of them motorbike accident victims. He said that the age of the injured was between 18 to 30 years.

Emerging from the department after talking to Tapan Debnath, a young boy was seen on a stretcher, a middle-aged man holding on to him and weeping. He said that his nephew had broken his leg on the day before Eid. The boy’s father Abul Kashem then turned up and said his son’s name was Kazi Hamim.

Abul Kashem said they lived at the Baklia Access Road area in Chattogram. He has been heading home with Hamim by auto-rickshaw they had a head on collision with another auto-rickshaw. Hamim had been sitting near the driver and received the most injuries. His left was broken. He was first taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital where they advised to take him to Dhaka. Abul Kashem said Hamim, the eldest of one son and two daughters, was restless in pain.

A visit to Dhaka Medical College Hospital saw motorcycle accident victims being brought there too. At around 6:00 in the evening, Rakibul Islam, a resident of Mohammedpur, was brought there by his relatives. He had broken his leg on the day after Eid in a motorbike accident. He was first admitted to a hospital in Dhanmondi and then admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Friday.

Resident surgeon of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Mohammed Alauddin, said all sorts of patients came to their hospital. He could not confirm how many motorbike accident victims had come there for treatment.

Sources of Dhaka Medical College Hospital said at least 80 victims of motorbike accidents had come to the hospital from Friday morning till afternoon.

Jatri Kalyan Samity (Passenger Welfare Association) that deals with passenger rights, feels that that the main causes behind the accidents is the rampant riding to motorbikes and easy-bikes on the roads and highways, high speed to vehicles, flaws in road construction, and violation of the traffic rules. They said that driving in the wrong side of the road was also a major cause of accidents.

According to Jatri Kalyan Samity, the most deaths on the road during Eid-ul Azha had been in motorbike accidents. It records show that in a span of 15 days around that time, 340 persons had been killed in 312 accidents on road, rail and riverways. Of this, 94 had been killed and 77 injured in 91 motorbike accidents, that is, 32.85 per cent of the total accidents.