9 killed in 2 road crashes

Nine people were killed and six others injured in road accidents in Mymensingh and Jhenidah yesterday.

In Mymensingh, five people, including two women, were killed and another woman was critically injured as a bus rammed a CNG-run auto-rickshaw at Raghabpur of the district's Sadar upazila yesterday evening.

The accident took place on Mymensingh-Kishoreganj road around 6:45pm when the Mymensingh town-bound bus rammed the auto-rickshaw, said Abu Md Fazlul Karim, officer-in-charge of Mymensingh Kotwali Police Station.

Three passengers of the auto-rickshaw were killed on the spot while two others died at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, he said.

The critically injured woman was undergoing treatment at the hospital, added the police official.

One of the dead was Abdur Razzak alias Kajol, 25, of Ishwarganj upazila. The identities of four others could not be known immediately.

Police seized the bus, but its driver managed to flee, reports our Mymensingh correspondent.

A case was filed.

In another road crash, four betel-leaf traders were killed and five others injured as a three-wheeler fell into a roadside ditch after being hit by a truck near Dudshar bus stand in Shailkupa upazila of Jhenidah yesterday morning.

The dead are Amul Hossain, 35, of Charpara village, Shafiqur Rahman, 32, Rezaul Islam, 40, and Mujibor Rahman, 42, of Kanapukuria village. Rezaul is a cousin of Mujibor.

Quoting locals, police said some betel-leaf traders in a three-wheeler, locally known as baby taxi, were going to Dakbangla Bazar in Sadar upazila from Sheikhpara Bazar for buying betel leaves, reports our Jhenidah correspondent.

Around 6:00am, the Jessore-bound truck hit the three-wheeler on Jhenidah-Kushtia highway from behind. The three-wheeler fell into the roadside ditch, leaving four dead on the spot and hurting five others.  

MA Hashem, officer-in-charge of Shailkupa Police Station, said police seized the truck, but its driver and helper fled.  

A case was lodged in this connection.