Study tour turns into nightmare
Teacher’s arm severed, at least 15 students injured as their bus hits parked truck in Gopalganj
A teacher's left arm was severed below the elbow and at least 15 students of Dhaka's Willes Little Flower School and College were injured when a bus carrying them on a study tour hit a parked truck from behind on Dhaka-Khulna highway in Gopalganj yesterday.
Badly injured Syeda Fahima Begum, 50, of the department of civics of the institution, was flown to Dhaka by an air ambulance.
She was admitted to Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute around 4:00pm. Doctors last night re-attached her arm after carrying out a seven-hour surgery on her.
Monirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Gopalganj Sadar Police Station, said the accident took place around 12:30pm when the bus was heading for Bangabandhu Mausoleum in Tungipara from Dhaka.
The driver lost control of the vehicle in Ghonapara area of Gopalganj and hit the truck parked along the Dhaka-Khulna highway, leaving the 16 injured, he added.
All the injured was first taken to Gopalganj General Hospital. Later, the wounded students were sent to Dhaka by road.
Quoting victims, police said the teacher was sitting in a front row window seat of the bus.
After being brought to the Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute, the teacher was rushed to an operation theatre.
Samanta Lal Sen, chief coordinator of the institute, said Fahima's left arm was severed below the elbow. She also had injuries to her right hand, head and some other parts of her body.
Fahima's colleagues said she lives with her family at the capital's Shantinagar. She, along with more than 100 students, nine teachers and some staffers of Willes Little Flower School and College, was going to Gopalganj from Dhaka.
Fahad Arfin Ananta, an injured student, said they started from the capital's Kakrail for Tungipara on six buses and a microbus.
"The driver of our bus lost control of the vehicle, which led to the accident," he added.
Talking to The Daily Star, Director Prof Abul Kalam of the Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute last night said blood circulation to the patient's left arm was normal after the surgery.
Fahima was shifted to the ICU of the institute, he said, adding that it would take five days for them to tell whether the operation was successful.
Our Faridpur correspondent contributed to this report.