Five maizbhandari devotees die after bus hits truck in Cumilla
Road blocked in Sylhet as accident takes three lives
A bus with around 50 devotees was going to Chattogram from Khulna yesterday. On the way, five of them lost their lives as the bus hit a truck loaded with steel bars in Cumilla.
Police said the bus got severely damaged as the steel bars pierced through a large portion of the vehicle.
The accident happened in Gangra area of Chauddagram upazila when the bus was trying to overtake the truck, said Monjurul Alam, in-charge of Miah Bazar highway police outpost.
The devotees were going to attend a traditional maizbhandari urs (religious gathering) in Fatickchhari of Chattogram, he said.
The five passengers were killed on the spot. Ten of the devotees were also injured, said the police officer.
Of the deceased, Chaina Hijra, 50, was from Khulna city's Khalishpur; Aslam Mollah, 50, and Hashi Begum, 40, from the district's Chandanimahal village; and Salam Mia and Anowar Hossain, 45, from Senhati village.
Drivers of both the vehicles fled the scene after the accident, said police.
The law enforcers seized the vehicles. The injured were taken to Chauddagram Upazila Health Complex. The bodies were sent to Khulna, said the police officer.
In Sylhet, three members of a family were killed as a bus hit a CNG-run auto-rickshaw carrying them in Bodikona area of Dakshin Surma upazila on Saturday.
Ayesha Siddika Chadni, 18, daughter of Liaquat Hossain; her cousin Liya Begum, 17, daughter of Mojammel Ali; and their sister-in-law Tasnim Akhter, 19, died on the spot.
They were from Mohammadpur village in the upazila.
The bus hit the auto-rickshaw from behind at high speed, Dakshin Surma Police Station Officer-in-Charge Khairul Fazal quoted witnesses as saying.
Following the accident, locals blocked the road for an hour. Police later brought the situation under control.
The law enforcers seized the bus from the spot and sent the bodies to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College morgue for autopsies.
In Rangpur, a girl was killed as a truck ran her over in the city on Saturday night.
Sharmin Jahan, 7, daughter of Shamim Mia, was going to her residence in the city's Lahirihat area with her parents by a battery-run auto-rickshaw, said police. The accident occurred right after she fell from the vehicle, they said.
[Our correspondents from Cumilla, Sylhet and Dinajpur contributed to the report]