Police and witnesses said the accident took place at around 12:00noon when a Sirajganj-bound goods-laden truck from Dhaka collided head-on with a passenger bus from Naogaon at Kamakkhar Mor, leaving seven bus passengers dead on the spot.

Local people rescued the injured and rushed them to Tangail General Hospital. Two more injured bus passengers died on the way.

Of the dead, five were identified as supervisor of the bus Mohammad Insan Ali, 25, son of Iasin Ali of Naogaon, helper of the bus Zakir Hossain, 35, Abdul Mannan, 25, Hosne Ara Begum, 70, of Naogaon and Abdul Hannan, 20, of Bogra. The identities of the rest could not be known immediately.

On information, police rushed to the spot and took the bodies to Jamuna Bridge Purbo Par Police Station.

Syed Ashiqur Rahman, second officer of the police station, told The Daily Star that all the killed were travelling aboard the passenger bus and most of them hailed from different upazilas of Naogaon district.

Critically injured Abul Kalam Azad, 25, of Ashekpur in Tangail town and Abu Hanif, 30, were shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) while 11 other injured were admitted to Tangail General Hospital.

Seven of them were identified as Fazlur Rahman, 70, Shohag, 25, Biplob, 18, Abdul Jalil, 30, Nantu, 25, Munni, 33 and Suchona, 6.

Police seized both the vehicles but the drivers managed to escape.

High officials from district administration including Tangail Deputy Commissioner (DC) Akhter Ali Sarkar visited the spot and the injured in the hospital.