17 killed as bus crashes into tree
At least 17 people were killed and 56 others injured when a bus crashed into a roadside tree in Sadar upazila of Faridpur early yesterday.
Police said the accident occurred on Dhaka-Khulna highway around 1:00am as the driver of the Dhaka-bound bus from Paikgachha of Khulna tried to give way to a truck coming from the opposite direction at Dignagor, some 10 kms from Faridpur town.
They said the bus driver lost control over the wheels and the vehicle hit a roadside tree, killing 14 passengers on the spot and injuring others. Three persons died on way to hospital.
The accident ripped the bus in three pieces, police said, adding that there were 73 passengers in the bus during the accident.
On information, police and fire fighters rescued the injured passengers and sent them to Faridpur Medical College Hospital. They also recovered the bodies.
Of the dead, seven were identified as Sizzad Joardar, 70, and Bipul Biswas, 35, of Khulna, Mamun, 22, of Satkhira, Soleman Sheikh, 45, of Magura, Idris Ali Sardar, 42, of Jessore, Ishar Ali, 35, of Manikganj and Md Jamil, 30, bus supervisor.
"The driver was talking to the bus supervisor and driving it speedily just before the accident. The driver expressed his unwillingness to drive it further when the vehicle reached Jessore from Khulna. But he was forced to do it," said MA Quddus, a passenger of the bus.
Quddus, a muazzin of a madrasa in Jessore, said the bus driver could not move the vehicle when the truck came in front of it suddenly.
Hearing the news of the accident, Faridpur Deputy Commissioner Helal Uddin Ahmed, Superintendent of Police (SP) Awlad Ali Fakir and Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Faridpur Sadar Rahima Akhter visited the spot of the accident.
The DC said the seven bodies were handed over to their family members while the unidentified bodies to Md Sabur Hossain, UNO of Paikgachha in Khulna.
Meanwhile, the district administration has allotted Tk 4,000 each for the families of the deceased while Tk 1,000 each for the injured.
After the accident, Advocate Sohrab Ali MP of Paikgachha, UNO of Paikgachha Md Sabur Hossain and Mayor of Paikgachha Municipality Sheikh Quamrul Hasan visited the injured at Faridpur Medical College Hospital.
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