23 killed in road crashes during Eid holidays

Two people were killed in a road accident by the Hatikumrul-Banpara highway at Harinchara Bazar of Ullapara upazila of Sirajganj on Thursday morning. Photo: Prothom Alo
Two people were killed in a road accident by the Hatikumrul-Banpara highway at Harinchara Bazar of Ullapara upazila of Sirajganj on Thursday morning. Photo: Prothom Alo

Road crashes between Tuesday and Thursday killed at least 23 people when millions of people went to their village homes and tourist destinations to celebrate the long Eid-ul-Fitr vacation, reports UNB.

Accidents on highways during the holiday are common in Bangladesh. They are mostly blamed on reckless driving, unfit vehicles and dilapidated road conditions.

During the ongoing Eid vacation, road accidents left at least 99 others injured.

The accidents were reported from Dhaka, Sirajgan, Bhola, Bogura, Bagerhat, Jhenaidah, Faridpur, Netrakona and Sylhet.

Nine of those killed in the accidents were riding motorcycles.

In Dhaka, a college student was killed and two others injured in a road crash on Mayor Hanif Flyover on Thursday noon.

The deceased was identified as Emon, 22, son of Jerin Mia of Shonir Akhra area. He was an undergraduate student at Siddheswari College.

Emon and his two friends were injured when the motorcycle they were riding fell from the flyover, said Inspector Bachchu Mia of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) police camp.

They were taken to DMCH where the doctors pronounced Emon dead.

In Sirajganj, six people were killed in separate accidents in Ullapara and Raiganj upazilas on Thursday and Tuesday.

Two people, including a bank official, were killed when a private car plunged into a roadside ditch on the Hatikumrul-Banpara highway at Harinchara Bazar of Ullapara on Thursday morning.

The deceased are Amarul Hossain, 42, senior officer of Agrani Bank Ltd, and Rubel, 45, driver of the private car.

Abdul Quader Zilani, officer-in-charge of Hatikumrul highway police station, said the private car carrying the bank official skidded off the road and fell into the ditch around 8:30am, killing Amarul on the spot and injuring Rubel.

The driver died while being taken to hospital, he said.

Four others were killed on Tuesday after a Gaibandha-bound bus plunged into a roadside ditch in Shimla area of Raiganj upazila.

The deceased are Fazlul Haque, 45, Hamidul Islam, 40, and Shahjahan Mia, 35, of Sundarganj upazila in Gaibandha. The other person is Ataur Sheikh, 30, of Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur.

All four were killed on the spot when the accident took place on the Dhaka-Bogura Highway around 4:30am, said Raiganj fire service and civil defence acting station officer Sirajul Islam.

Twenty-seven others injured in the accident were hospitalised in Sirajganj, Raiganj and Bogura.

In Bhola, two motorcyclists were killed after a head-on collision with a bus at Boro Manik area in Borhanuddin upazila on Thursday noon.

The deceased were identified as Iqbal, 26, and Sohag, 20, residents of Daulatkhan area of the upazila.

A speeding bus hit the motorcycle around 2:15pm, killing them on the spot on Bhola-Charfesson road, said Enamul Haque, officer-in-charge of Borhauddin police station.

In Bogura, a man was killed and 20 others were injured in a head-on collision between two buses on Bogura-Dhaka Highway at Mahipur in Sherpur upazila on Thursday.

The deceased, Shahidul Islam, 35, of the upazila, died on the spot.

The accident occurred around 11:00am when a Bogura-bound bus from Dhaka crashed into another bus, said Humayun Kabir, officer-in-charge of Sherpur police station.

In Bagerhat, two bikers were killed and two others injured in a road accident at Maheshpur in Morelganj upazila on Wednesday night.

The deceased were Swapan Saha, 25, son of Mahadeb Saha; and Shawon Khan, 24, son of Afzal Khan of Pirojpur district.

AKM Azizul Islam, officer-in-charge of Morelganj police station, said the accident took place around 8:30pm when two motorcycles crashed into each other.

The accident left the two riders of a bike dead on the spot and two of the other motorcycle injured.

In Jhenaidah, two motorcyclists were killed and another injured after their motorcycle hit a roadside tree in Kotchandpur upazila on Wednesday morning.

The deceased are Bipul Hossain, 20, son of Alim Hossain of Jagannathpur village in Kotchadpur upazila; and Rana, 13, son of Asadul Islam of Jibannagar upazila in Chuadanga district.

Pradip Kumar Mondol, sub-officer of Kotchandpur fire service station, said Bipul, Rana and Firoz were going to Khalispur by a motorcycle.

They were injured when their motorcycle hit a roadside tree around 9:30am at Khord-Khalispur.

They were taken to upazila health complex where doctors pronounced Bipul and Rana dead. The injured Firoz Hossain was shifted to Jashore Medical College Hospital.

In Faridpur, six people were killed and 15 others injured after a passenger bus hit a roadside tree in the Sadar upazila on Wednesday.

Police said the accident occurred on the Dhaka-Khulna Highway's Dhudli area around 6:30am.

Several passengers were killed on the spot after a Khulna-bound bus of AK Travel from Dhaka rammed into a roadside tree, said Kotwali police's in-charge SM Nasim.

Some of the victims succumbed to their injuries while being taken to hospital.

In Netrakona, two motorcyclists were killed and another was severely injured as a bus smashed their motorbike in Challisha Railgate area of Sadar upazila on Tuesday.

The deceased are Mojibur Rahman, Challisha union Awami League general secretary, and Shafiqul Islam of Bamonmoha village.

Netrokona police chief Joydeb Chowdhury said the bus hit the motorcycle head-on in the afternoon that left three riders severely injured.

Locals first took them to Sadar Hospital and then to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital where doctors referred them to Dhaka.

Two of them died on the way to DMCH, SP added.

In Sylhet, a woman was killed and 30 people were injured after a bus fell into a roadside ditch on the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway in Osmaninagar upazila on Tuesday.

The deceased was Khursheda Begum, 20, wife of Faruk Mia of Berigaon village in Sunamganj Sadar upazila.

Officer-in-Charge of Sherpur highway police station Jasim Uddin said the Sylhet-bound 'Shahjalal Paribahan' bus from Dhaka skidded off the road and plunged into the ditch at Goalbazar Brahmangram around 5:00am.

Khursheda died on the spot.

Firefighters from Tajpur fire station and highway police rescued the injured and hospitalised them.