11 killed in five road accidents

Eleven people were killed and 10 injured in five road accidents in Tangail, Gazipur, Feni and Gopalganj yesterday amid the Covid-19 "lockdown".

Three of them were killed when a microbus rammed a covered van, parked along the Dhaka-Tangail highway, from behind in Pakulla Bus Stop area of Mirzapur upazila around 5:00am.

The dead are Hasan, 30, driver of the microbus, his helper Imon, 25, and passenger Golam Maula Shamim, 28.

Shamim's wife Meem Akter, 24, was admitted to Kumudini Hospital with injuries.

Mozaffar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Gorai Highway Police Station, said the couple was returning to work in Brahmanbaria after celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr in Akkelpur village of Joypurhat.

The bodies were later handed to the victims' families. Police seized both the vehicles and filed a case in this regard, the OC told The Daily Star.

In Gazipur, two bikers were killed when a pick-up van hit their motorcycle from behind on Dhaka-Tangail highway in Kaliakair area around 11:30am.

One of the deceased is Shafiqul Islam Khan, 32, a resident of Nagar Chhaoalee village in Tangail's Mirzapur upazila. The identity of the other victim could not be confirmed till last evening.

In another accident, a man was killed and five others were injured in a head-on collision between two CNG-run three-wheelers on the Dhaka-Tangail highway in Ashekpur bypass area of Tangail around 8:30am.

The deceased, Mohammad Afzal, 38, was from Bhuanpur of Tangail.

Afzal was declared dead by physicians after he was taken to the 250-bed General Hospital in Tangail. The injured were undergoing treatment at the hospital, Rezaul Karim, assistant director of Fire Service and Civil Defence in Tangail, told The Daily Star.

In Feni, four people were killed and three others injured as a pick-up van hit a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in Baliapul area of Chhagalnaiya upazila around noon yesterday.

Among the dead are Bibi Hazera of Chhagalnaiya, Arif of Jorarganj in Chattogram's Mirsarai upazila, and Nurul Islam of Tangail's Shakhipur upazila. The identity of the other deceased could not be confirmed till the filing of this report last night.

Police said the victims were travelling to Chhagalnaiya from Jorarganj on the auto-rickshaw. All the four died on the spot.

The three injured were undergoing treatment at Feni General Hospital, said hospital sources.

Md Shahidul Islam, OC of Chhagalnaiya Police Station, said the bodies were sent to the hospital morgue for autopsies.

In Gopalganj, a man was killed and another wounded in a road crash on Dhaka-Khulna highway in Kashiani upazila's Gopalpur area.

The dead, Faijar Mia, 34, was from Suktail village in Gopalganj Sadar upazila.

Monir Ahamed, sub-inspector of Bhatiapara Highway Police Outpost, said the accident took place when a covered van ran over a rickshaw-van. The accident left Faijar Mia dead on the spot.

[Our correspondents in Tangail, Faridpur and Feni contributed to this report.]