Deadly day on highways
Road accidents continue to kill across the country in the after Eid return rush in what could only be described as tragedies on the roads with safety taking the back seat over profit and speed.
At least 24 people were killed and scores more were injured in road accidents in six districts yesterday, the worst in the last seven days. The roads are now crammed with vehicles carrying returning Eid holidaymakers.
In the three days of Eid holidays, 36 people had lost their lives on the roads. At least 20 died on the last day of the holiday (Sunday) alone.
Eight people, including seven of a family, were killed when a train rammed a three-wheeler at an unapproved level crossing in Bakkikhan area of Gazipur. Eight more died when a bus plunged into a ditch on Dhaka-Tangail highway in Basail upazila of Tangail.
In other road accidents of the day, three were killed in Sylhet, two in Magura, two in Brahmanbaria and one in Moulvibazar. Dozens were injured in the accidents, reported our correspondents there.
GAZIPUR
Witnesses said the accident happened when a CNG-run auto-rickshaw and a diesel-electric train were crossing an unmanned and unapproved level crossing in Haydarabad area of Joydevpur upazila around 2:30pm. After impact, the train, which was at speed, dragged the three-wheeler about 500 metres before it could stop.
All eight passengers of the auto-rickshaw were killed on impact, our Gazipur correspondent reports quoting Sub-Inspector Md Alauddin, in-charge of Tongi Railway Police outpost.
The deceased are: Shah Alam, 36, his wife Piyara Begum, 30, their son Yasin, 4, daughter Sadia, 6, Shah Alam's sister-in-law Safura Begum, 12, his cousins Al-Amin, 27, and Chunnu Miah, 28, and driver of the vehicle Md Mostafa, 20.
The bodies of the seven were found besides the rail lines. They were ejected from the wreckage of the three-wheeler as it was being dragged by the train. The driver's body was found inside the auto-rickshaw, Alauddin said.
There was no signal or gate there as the crossing was not approved, he said.
Arifuzzaman, Dhaka divisional manager for the railway, said there were several illegal crossings in Gazipur.
Amzad Hossain, a local, claimed that the railway had put a concrete signboard there asking people to cross the lines at their own risk.
Rafiquzzaman, a former councillor of Gazipur municipality, said there were at least 12 illegal crossing between Joydevpur and Tongi and all of them were risky.
TANGAIL
An overcrowded and erratically driven bus fell into a ditch on Dhaka-Tangail highway at Basail upazila yesterday killing eight people on the spot and injuring 20 more.
Highway police said the driver of the bus, heading for Dhaka from Dhanbari in Tangail, lost control of the vehicle while giving room to an oncoming bus in Patkhaguri area around 3:00pm.
One of the deceased could be identified as Jorina Begum, 35, wife of Dulal Miah of Sreebordi upazila in Sherpur, reports our Tangail Correspondent.
Dulal, who was travelling with Jorina, told The Daily Star that they were travelling to Dhaka on the roof of the bus with their three children since ride on the roof was cheaper.
“After the accident I found my wife Jorina dead and son and daughters injured,” he added.
The injured were sent to Tangail Medical College Hospital and nearby hospitals and private clinics.
Humayun Kabir, officer-in-charge of Gorai Highway Police Station, quoting witnesses and the injured, said, “The accident happened due to reckless driving.”
The driver and helpers of the bus fled the scene of the accident, he added.
MORE ACCIDENTS
In Sylhet, at least three people were killed and scores more injured when a bus plunged into a roadside ditch at Osmaninagar upazila, reports our Moulvibazar correspondent citing police.
Identities of the victims could not be known.
In Jhenidah, two people on a motorbike were killed when a bus collided with their bike head on and then ran them over on Magura-Faridpur highway near Kosondi of Magura Sadar upazila, reports our Jhenidah correspondent.
In Brahmanbaria, two passengers of a CNG-run auto-rickshaw were killed following a collision with a bus on Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Sarail upazila.
In Moulvibazar, a pedestrian was killed when a car ran him over on Moulvibazar-Rajnagar highway at Monsurnagar.
In Nilphamari, a microbus, a stone-laden truck and a motorcycle fell into the Auliakhana River after some steel plates of a Bailey bridge collapsed in Jaldhaka municipality area around 9:00pm.
Locals rescued three people in unconscious state from the river and admitted them to the upazila health complex, Officer-in-Charge Dilwar Hossain of Jaldhaka Police Station told The Daily Star without elaborating.
Members of Fire Service and Civil Defence from Jaldhaka and Dimla were yet to reach the spot till 1:10am today, reports our correspondent.
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