Road crashes claim 17 lives

Reckless driving continued as 17 persons were killed in road accidents in the country yesterday, raising the death toll to 64 since the start of Eid-ul-Azha vacation.

In Tangail, a bus collided head-on with a truck on Dhaka-Tangail highway at Ichail of Mirzapur around 7:15am, leaving five people, including two women and two children, dead and 15 others injured.

Police said all the dead and injured were passengers of the bus.

The dead are Rahima Begum, 30, her son Bayozid, 7, Sumon Mohonto, 35, his wife Minitra Mohonto, 30, and Minitra's nephew Titas Roy, 9.

Khalilur Rahman Patwari, officer-in-charge of Gorai Highway Police Station, said a Dhaka-bound passenger-laden bus from Kurigram collided with the brick-laden truck.

The OC said the accident might have occurred due to reckless driving of the trucker.

The injured were rushed to Tangail Kumudini Hospital.

In another incident, two motorcyclists were killed as a private car rammed into it in Kalihati around 9:30am, said police.

They were Mohammad Touhid and Mokhlesur Rahman of Gaibandha.

Yet in another incident, four people were killed and 25 others injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a truck in Ashura area of Madhupur upazila.

Liton Miah, 30, of Poddarbari in Madhupur, was one of the deceased.

Police said the injured people were rushed to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, Combined Military Hospital of Shaheed Salahuddin Cantonment in Ghatail and Madhupur Upazila Health Complex.

Meanwhile, two motorcycle riders were killed as a private car rammed into their bike in Analiabari area of Kalihati upazila around 9:30am.

In Sylhet, a bus plunged into a ditch beside Sylhet-Jakiganj road at Kayasthagram in the upazila, killing two siblings and injuring their father, said police.

The deceased were Shuva, 10, and her sister Tanima, 6.

Their father Koyes Miah of Golapganj upazila was undergoing treatment at Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital.

In Munshiganj, a speeding bus ran over 70-year-old Shukkur Ali of Srinagar upazila on Dhaka-Mawa highway around 11:30am, killing him instantly.

Locals said Shukkur was waiting in Umpara Bottola area of Srinagar Sadar upazila to go to a nearby market when the bus ran him over.

Witnesses said following the incident agitating locals blocked the highway for about 15 to 20 minutes and vandalised at least five vehicles, creating long tailbacks on the both sides of the road.

Although police seized the bus, its driver fled.

In Benapole of Jessore, a boy was killed and at least six people were injured when a human hauler overturned as its driver lost control over the steering around 4:00am at Marua village in Chougacha upazila, said police.

The deceased was Shohan Ali, 13, an eighth-grader of Shalikha High School in Magura.

Son of Jonab Ali of Shalikha upazila, Shohan along with a group of people was returning from a local fair in Chowgachha.

The injured were sent to Chowgachha Upazila Health Complex.

In Jhalakathi, a motorbike was hit by an oncoming bus, killing two of its riders and injuring another at Pingri of Rajapur on Barisal-Khulna highway, said Sheikh Munirul Gias, officer-in-charge of Rajapur Police Station.

The deceased were Sajib, 18, and Khalilur Rahman, 33.

Earlier, at least 31 persons were killed in the three-day Eid vacation while 16 more people were killed in three incidents on Friday.

[Our Tangail, Sylhet, Benapole, Munshiganj and Jhalakathi correspondents contributed to this report]