Road accidents claim 16 lives

At least 16 people were killed and over 80 others injured in road accidents in Feni, Kishoreganj, Faridpur and Sirajganj districts on Thursday, reports UNB.

According to reports reaching the UNB news desk, a Cox’s Bazar-bound bus carrying holidaymakers hit a roadside tree at Lemua in Sadar upazila of Feni district, killing eight people and injuring at least 20 others in the morning.

The accident took place near Lemua Bridge on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway around 5:45am.

Police identified the deceased as Opu, 35, and Sujon Mia, 28, from Bikrampur; Iqbal, 38, and Shamim, 30, from Dhaka’s Mirpur; Ripon, 30, from Madaripur; Munna Khan, 30, from Narayanganj; Faysal, 15, of Narayanganj and Shahadat Hossain, 28, from Feni.

Police superintendent of Feni, Nurunnabi, said six of them died on the spot after the ‘Prime Paribahan’ bus from Dhaka dashed the tree.

Among the injured, a man succumbed to his injuries while being taken to hospital while another at the hospital, said sub-inspector Kawsar of Mohipal highway police outpost.

Some of the injured were Akhter, 22, Opu, 25, Iqbal, Dulal, 27, and Sakina, 65, from Mirpur; Asma, 18, Foysal, 23, Munna, 50, Azam, 18, and Dulal, 13, from Narayanganj; Ripon, 30, from Madaripur; and Ripon, 40, from Tongi.

Kawsar said the victims were going to Cox’s Bazar from Dhaka’s Mirpur to enjoy a picnic after the Eid-ul-Azha.

The injured were initially taken to 250-bed Feni Modern Sadar Hospital.

“Seventeen of them were shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital as their condition deteriorated,” said physician Nazmul Haq Shammi of the Feni Sadar Hospital.

In Kishoreganj, three people were killed and four others injured as a goods-laden truck collided with a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on Kishoreganj-Bhairab Highway in Katiadi upazila.

The deceased were Jahidul, 30, of Niamatpur village of Karimganj upazila and Tofazzal, 25, Omar Faruq, 24, of Boyra village in Itna upazila.

Officer-in-charge of Katiadi police station, Abu Sama Md Iqbal Hayat, said the accident took place around 10:45am in Achmita area of the highway when the Bhairab bound CNG-run auto-rickshaw collided with the truck, leaving seven people, including the auto-rickshaw driver, injured.

Three of the injured were declared dead when they were taken to the Sadar Hospital.

In Faridpur, three people were killed and over 30 others injured in a head-on collision between two buses at Nawapara in Bhangaupazila on Thursday.

Two of the deceased were Mira Kundu, 60, wife of Lakshman Kundu of Pachuria village in Rajbaria and driver Rawshan Fakir, 45, son of Dhola Fakir, of Ramnagar village in Nagarkanda.

In-charge of Bhanga highway police, Ataur Rahman, said a Tekerhat-bound local bus from Faridpur collided head-on with a Rangpur-bound bus from Barishal at Nawapara around 9:30am, leaving two people dead on the spot.

Police and fire service members recovered 32 injured people and admitted them to Faridpur Medical College Hospital where another injured died.

In Sirajganj, two people were killed and 33 others injured after two buses collided head-on at Konabariin Kamarkhandupazila in the afternoon.

Identities of the deceased could not be known yet.

Officer-in-charge of Bangabandhu Bridge (West) police station said a Dhaka-bound bus collided head-on with a bus of Hanif Paribahan, killing the two persons on the spot around 2:45pm.

Seventeen injured people were admitted to 250-Bed Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib General Hospital.

Traffic on the road was disrupted for about an hour following the accident.