8 more killed on roads on 1st day of Eid holiday
Mismanagement by the authorities concerned once again came to the fore as at least 15 people were killed and 10 others injured when a rod-laden truck, illegally carrying passengers, overturned into a roadside ditch on the Dhaka–Tangail–Jamuna Bridge national highway in Tangail’s Kalihati area early Monday.
Along with these casualties, on the first day of the seven-day holiday for Eid-ul-Azha, a total of 23 people were killed and 60 others injured in road accidents in Tangail, Rajshahi, Bogura, Munshiganj and Gopalganj districts.
Although the Road Transport Act 2018 prohibits carrying passengers in goods-laden vehicles, fatal road accidents involving such vehicles frequently occur, especially during Eid-ul-Azha, one of the biggest religious festivals for Muslims.
Poor passengers often use these vehicles to reach their destinations at low cost, as bus operators charge higher fares during Eid amid lax monitoring by the authorities, including the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority under the road transport and bridges ministry and the highway police under the home affairs ministry.
Road transport minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam claimed at an event on Monday that the accident was not related to road management, saying that people tend to board any moving vehicle instead of waiting for buses.
‘These passengers carelessly boarded a rod-laden truck at dawn, and the driver lost control. We do bear responsibility, but consideration is needed on how to control this in a realistic way,’ he said.
New Age’s correspondent in Tangail reported that the accident occurred at about 4:30am in the Saratail Dakshinpara area near the eastern approach road of the Jamuna Bridge at Kalihati upazila.
According to some of the injured, about 30 people — including daily wage labourers and small-scale traders who sold goods by ferrying — were returning to different northern districts on the truck from Chattogram, Noakhali and adjacent areas to avoid paying higher fares ahead of Eid.
Thirteen of the 15 people killed in the incident were residents of Rajendrabati and Chiklabola villages at Varsho union of Naogaon’s Manda upazila and worked as paddy harvesting labourers, Manda upazila nirbahi officer Akhtar Jahan Sathi said.
Among the deceased, Sagar Mia, 20, son of Sakim Mia, Rabiul Islam, 25, son of Shahidul Islam, Shariqul, 25, son of Saidul, Md Bari, 21, son of Abdur Rashid, Badsha, 32, son of Abdur Rahim, Mainul Islam, 25, and Gias Uddin, 22, sons of Abdur Rashid, Yakub, son of Ekabbar Ali and Tarek, 21, son of Md Sultan were from Naogaon, Nazrul, 60, and Mamun, 45, were from Chapainawabganj and Ismail Hossain, 19, son of Altaf Hossian, was from Rajshahi.
New Age could not verify identities of three other deceased.
Preliminary reports said that the passengers were seated on iron rods at the back of the truck under a makeshift tarpaulin cover.
When the vehicle reached the Saratail area, the driver reportedly lost control and the truck overturned into a roadside ditch.
Injured Tariqul Islam said that four of them boarded the truck at Chattogram’s Alangkar crossing on Sunday at 2:30pm paying Tk 2,300 to go to Chapainawabganj.
Then the truck went to Feni and from there about 22 people boarded it and from Dhaka four more boarded it, Tariqul said.
‘We were all sitting on the angle bars, huddled together,’ he said, adding that he had been asleep when the accident occurred and woke up in a hospital.
Jamuna Bridge East police station officer-in-charge Fuad Rohani said that the truck was carrying an excessive number of passengers while travelling from Dhaka to northern Bangladesh.
‘The rod-laden truck lost control and overturned on the roadside at Saratail. Fifteen people died on the spot after being trapped under the truck,’ he said, adding that the bodies had been sent to the Tangail General Hospital morgue.
Relatives of the victims crowded the hospital and police station in search of family members.
Elenga Fire Service in-charge Ataur Rahman said firefighters, police and locals jointly carried out rescue operations which took several hours to recover the victims trapped beneath the truck.
The injured were rushed to Tangail General Hospital, where several were reported to be in critical condition.
Highway police and other relevant authorities have launched an investigation. The accident caused temporary traffic congestion on the highway.
New Age’s correspondent in Tanagil reported that a motorcyclist identified as Mostafizur Rahman was also killed in a collision between a sand-laden truck and a motorcycle in the Jamuna Bridge-bound Stack Yard Bypass area under Kalihati in the morning.
A pillion rider on the motorcycle rider was injured in the accident, Jamuna Bridge East police station officials confirmed the matter.
New Age’s staff correspondent in Rajshahi reported that two people died on the spot in a head-on collision between a battery-run rickshaw and a dump truck at Patnitala upazila in Naogaon early Monday.
The deceased were Abu Hasan, 46, the rickshaw driver from Sujail area under Mahadebpur upazila, and Tarikul Islam, 45, son of Ochi Uddin of Durgapur area under Dhamoirhat upazila in the district.
Patnitala police station officer-in-charge Niamul Haque said that the truck driver fled the scene immediately with the truck after the accident.
A 35-year-old man and his minor daughter died on the spot, while his wife was injured, when an unidentified vehicle hit their motorcycle from behind on Bogura-Dhaka highway at Banani at Shahjahanpur upazila in Bogura district on Monday at about 7:35am, the United News of Bangladesh reports.
The deceased were Anisur Rahman, son of Ershad Ali, and his four-year-old daughter Ayesha, of Sujanagar upazila in Pabna district.
Confirming the accident, Asif Iqbal, officer-in-charge of the Shahjahanpur police station, said that the injured mother Pushpa Akter was taken to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital.
Two people were killed in separate road accidents in Munshiganj, the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reports.
According to the police, about 2:00am on the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway in front of the Dogachi Army Camp a goods-laden truck crashed into another truck ahead of it, leaving driver Md Hossain 35, son of Md Tabu of Muslim Para at Belgachi upazila of Chuadanga. trapped inside the vehicle.
He was rescued in critical condition and taken to Srinagar Upazila Health Complex where he succumbed to his injuries.
Hasara highway police station officer-in-charge Md Mamun Al Rashid said that the body had been kept at the police station.
In another accident around the same time, a speeding lorry hit a covered van near Manaba Water Park in the Dori Baushia area on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway while taking a U-turn.
The collision killed lorry helper Antor Das, 18, son of Manik Das of Chandpur village at Senbag upazila on the spot.
Hasara highway police station officer-in-charge Shah Kamal said that the body had been kept at the station.
The BSS also reported that a man was killed and at least 50 others injured when a Dhaka-bound microbus collided head-on with a ‘Kotalipa Express’ bus travelling towards Gopalganj at about 2:00pm in the Sonasur area on the Dhaka-Khulna highway at Gopalganj Sadar upazila.
Moments after the initial collision, a car following the microbus reportedly lost control and crashed into the wrecked vehicle.
The force of the collision caused the bus to skid off the highway and plunge into a roadside ditch, while the microbus was left completely mangled. The unidentified microbus driver died on the spot.
Local residents, police and members of the fire service launched an immediate rescue operation and the injured passengers were taken to Gopalganj Medical College Hospital and the district’s 250-bed General Hospital.
Hospital authorities said several of the injured were in critical condition. Further investigation into the cause of the accident was under way.
