25 killed in Faridpur road crash

At least 25 people were killed and 23 injured when a bus veered off the road in Bhanga upazila of Faridpur early today.

Eleven of the deceased were identified as Surjo Begum, 70, Akli Begum, 7, Asma, 27, Helal Karim, 28, Rezaul, 20, and Shahin, 24, of Patuakhali district, Shariful Sheikh, 27, of Gopalganj, Ratan Sajjad, 30, of Barguna, Monirul, 35, of Jessore and Mobarok, 32, and Afzal Hossain, 40, of Barisal.

Identities of the other deceased could not be known immediately.

A Barisal-bound bus of Sonartari Paribahan from Dhaka skidded of the road and plunged into a ditch after hitting a tree in Kaidubi area around 1:30am as the driver lost control over the steering, our Faridpur correspondent reports quoting Jamil Hasan, superintendent of police in Faridpur.

The bodies of 20 persons who died on the spot have been kept at Bhanga Highway Police Station premise while those who died at Faridpur Medical College Hospital were sent to the hospital morgue, said Alamgir Hossain, upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Banga. 

Families and relatives of the passengers are seen rushing to the scene and morgue to get information about their near and dead ones.

A five-member probe committee headed by Additional District Magistrate Abdur Rashid has been formed to investigate the accident, said Sardar Sharafat Ali, deputy commissioner (DC) of Faridpur.

The district administration authorities have been distributing Tk 10,000 each among the victim families, said the DC said.

On information, Additional Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Dhaka zone Khandker Golam Faruq, DIG (Highway zone) Mallick Faqrul Islam and local Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Alamgir Hossain visited the spot.