Death again for reckless driving
A bus is set ablaze by angry mob after it hit and killed a pedestrian in front of the city's Eden College yesterday. Photo: Courtesy
Rash driving has claimed yet another life in the city. A bus yesterday hit a pedestrian in front of Eden College and dragged him for around 30 yards before leaving him too injured to survive.
Incensed, people set fire to the vehicle, vandalised two others and barricaded Mirpur Road halting traffic for around an hour.
The hit-and-run driver, however, managed to flee the mob.
Identity of the victim, believed to be in his early thirties, could not yet be known.
Jewel, a sugarcane juice vendor who saw the incident, told The Daily Star the man was knocked over while crossing the road at around 12:30pm.
“It all happened in a flash. His shirt got tangled up in the bumper, and he was hauled along the road for around 100 feet,” he added.
Raj, a passenger of the bus, which was going to Sadarghat from Gabtoli, said,”The driver was already speeding. The moment he sensed he had hit someone, he accelerated further.”
With a mob in hot pursuit, he soon left the vehicle and ran off.
The injured pedestrian was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he died at around 3:00pm.
Sub-inspector Kazi Barkat Ali of Lalbagh Police Station told The Daily Star they have seized the bus. But they could not identify the victim and arrest the driver as of filing this report at 12:30am.
Earlier on Monday and Tuesday, seven persons died in road accidents in the capital.
Police constable Abdur Rouf, 32, was hit by a truck on Wapda Road in Rampura at around 10:30pm on Monday. Around two and a half hours later, he died at Pangu Hospital.
The same night Kamal, 35, was run over and killed by a speeding vehicle at Birulia Bus Stop in Pallabi Beribadh area.
Earlier in the day, Ansar Ali, 32, was knocked down by a minibus on Mirpur Road in Kalyanpur area. A few hours afterwards, he died in DMCH.
The following morning, three persons died when a bus rammed a pickup van from behind on Kawla Bridge near airport intersection. All three were aged above 50.
Debdas Bala, a labourer, died when a covered van hit him at the entrance to the cargo village in Hazrat Shahjalal Airport at around 11:30am on Tuesday.
On February 3, a speeding bus killed five-year-old Hamim Sheikh in front of Willes Little Flower School in Kakrail.
The boy was crossing the road with his mother who sustained critical head injuries but survived.
Just two days later, seven-year-old Sumi was killed and an infant injured in another hit-and-run accident on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue at Shaheenbagh. Police could not identify the vehicle responsible for the death.
The same day a minibus killed garment worker Saiful Islam, 25, at Sonargaon Hotel roundabout.
On January 20, four of a family died when a truck running on the wrong side of the road hit a car at Jatrabari in the capital.
The family was returning home after holidaying in Cox's Bazar.
At least one person gets killed and many more are wounded in road accidents in the city every day.
According to police, 98 percent of the accidents happen due to reckless driving. The usual culprits are minibuses, buses and other public transport.
Statistics of Accident Monitoring Cell of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and Dhaka Metropolitan Police say 377 people died in 620 accidents in Dhaka in 2008. Of them, 283 were pedestrians. Another 79 walkers were seriously injured.
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