Vandalism in Kanchpur as bus hits girl

Angry students halted vehicular movement on Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Narayanganj for around five hours after a bus hit a schoolgirl in Kanchpur area, leaving her injured.

The protesters set fire to the bus and vandalised at least 10 other vehicles, causing a 15-kilometre long tailback on the busy highway. 

Sadia Akter, a class-IX student of Kanchpur Omor Ali School, was hit by the bus while she was crossing the highway to go to the school around 8:00am, said Qaiyum Ali, officer-in-charge of Kanchpur Highway Police.

Locals took 15-year-old Sadia, daughter of Mintu Kazi from Sonapur area, to a local private clinic. Later, she was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said the OC.

The bus involved in the accident set on fire. Photo: Collected

The bus driver and his helper fled the scene.

Protesting the incident, more than a hundred students blocked the highway in Kanchpur area around 8:30am. They torched the bus and vandalised at least 10 more vehicles, leading to severe traffic jam on the highway.

The protesters called off agitation around 1:00pm after Narayanganj-3 lawmaker Liakot Hossain Khoka went to the spot, and told them that a footbridge would be built there.

He also assured that financial help would be given to the injured student.

Kazi Md Habibur Rahman, an uncle of Sadia, said she was out of danger but she suffered fractures in her right arm and both legs in the accident.

The OC said they seized the bus but no case was filed over the incident.

He further said police were trying to arrest the bus driver and his helper.